John Bilezikjan

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Mumblypeg
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John Bilezikjan

Post by Mumblypeg »

Does anyone have any information about the death of John Bilezikjan, who played oud in many of Leonard's recordings and concerts? Leonard mentioned this on the second night in Austin and dedicated the concert to him.
Gerry
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by Gerry »

Very sorry to hear this sad news. A great musician, i saw him accompanying Leonard in Dublin in '79 and '85. A very quiet and accomplished musician. Nice to hear Leonard dedicating a concert to him.
bigdee
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by bigdee »

Sorry to hear yet another member of Leonard's band has recently passed. If I find any specific details I'll be sure to link them here. I also read Bill Ginn (keyboard player from Passenger, toured with LC in 1979-80, 93) recently passed away. I tried looking up info on him but other than the fact a recent interview on the LC tour mentions him as "the late Bill Ginn" I can't find any offical announcement of his passing. If anyone has any details on either of these two please post them.
1993: Philadelphia July 15 2008: Montreal June 23,24,25 2009: NYC Feb 19/ Columbia May 11/ Philadelphia May 12/ Waterbury May 14/ NYC May 16,17/ Boston May 29,30/ Philadelphia Oct 22/ NYC Oct 23/ Cleveland Oct 25 2010: Vegas Dec 10,11 2012: Boston Dec 15,16/ NYC Dec 18,20 2013: NYC Apr 6,7
Eskimo
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by Eskimo »

....a few examples of the great John Bilezikjian - The Partisan on tour with Leonard in '88.....music used to accompany a dancer....and Barsegh Kanachyan's Oror - a lullaby....
John Etherington
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Re: John Bilezikjan's death--?

Post by John Etherington »

I know it was mentioned that John Bilezikjan was not in good enough health to play on Leonard's current tour. However, if it is true that he has passed on, I find it extremely odd that there is no apparent reference to this, when you type his name in google. Perhaps Jarkko can confirm? Meanwhile, John was a great presence in Leonard's band, with a role comparable to that of Javier Mas. I have particularly strong memories of him playing on the 1988 tour.

All good things, John E
lonndubh
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John Bilezikjan alive and well

Post by lonndubh »

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 11:44 AM, John Bilezikjian <dantzrec@aol.com> wrote:

It is so good to bring good news. I was so very surprised to receive this email from John himself a few minutes ago

"
You have reached John Bilezikjian in person. I appreciate you writing me. I am alive and still performing. I live in California. It is true that I have an illness. I have end stage renal failure. I am on Dialysis however, I have not let that curtail my ability to perform. I was not asked to perform on Leonard's tour not because of ill health but because Leonard has gone in another direction. I get no less than 20 E-mails from people all over the world asking me the very question that you are as well. So, I am still alive and kicking as they say.
Thank you for your kind words to me in this E-mail and should you like to know more about my music and CD's that I have made on the Oud, you may go to my web site, (address below) and look at what is available to the public.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
John Bilezikjian
Dantz Records
P.O. Box 2434
Laguna Hills, CA 92654-2434
Mirek
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by Mirek »

Now that's really a good news!

Hope this means that John will live very long.

Mirek
Eskimo
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by Eskimo »

This link is to the website of John Bilezikjian - a living legend....
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jarkko
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by jarkko »

FROM LEONARD:
I dedicated the concert to the memory of Bill Ginn and John Wood, both members of Passenger. Nothing to do with John B!!!
Bill Ginn was the keyboardist of Passenger. He died a few years ago. John Wood handled the equipment for Passenger. He died some years before Bill. Both of these men were friends. Both of them had close connections to Austin. I dedicated the Austin concert to their memory. John Belezikjian and Raffi Hakopian, along with Passenger, made up the musicians of the Field Commander Tour, 1979-80.
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
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jeremek
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by jeremek »

1985/2008/2010/2013/Always
bigdee
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by bigdee »

Thank you Leonard, Jarkko, and John himself for clarifying the dedication and the details on who has passed. Glad to hear John is still with us though I'm saddened to hear he is seriously ill. While I didn't get the chance to see him on tour with Leonard, I do have numberous live CD's and videos of the tours he was a part of and have to say his playing on the oud always stood out as the best parts of the show. For me his presence was really what the made those shows as great as they were. Anyway, thanks again to all who took the time to clear this up for us.
1993: Philadelphia July 15 2008: Montreal June 23,24,25 2009: NYC Feb 19/ Columbia May 11/ Philadelphia May 12/ Waterbury May 14/ NYC May 16,17/ Boston May 29,30/ Philadelphia Oct 22/ NYC Oct 23/ Cleveland Oct 25 2010: Vegas Dec 10,11 2012: Boston Dec 15,16/ NYC Dec 18,20 2013: NYC Apr 6,7
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lizzytysh
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by lizzytysh »

John Belezikjian and Raffi Hakopian
I wanted so much for John... or Raffi... to accompany Leonard on this tour. I love the oud. It was not to be, however, and musician decisions were made. I like Javier Mas very much. I'm very relieved to see that John is alive and, even though this rumour somehow got started, it was quickly and duly squelched by both John and Leonard, by way of Jarkko. Thanks for writing him, Lonndubh.


~ Lizzy
"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."
~ Oscar Wilde
lonndubh
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by lonndubh »

Whats that saying -Its an ill wind that blows no good ;-)
I love the oud too and it was good to check out jeremek's link to youtube
Mumblypeg
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by Mumblypeg »

Thanks for the good news and clarification. I must have mis-heard and the info re: austin connections somehow got scrambled in the remembering. Apologies to John B. and others for the misinformation.
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lizzytysh
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Re: John Bilezikjan

Post by lizzytysh »

No problem, with me, at all, Mumblypeg. I once had Maria Callas as having just died when, in fact, she had done so 15 years earlier. It happens and especially in the moments when you're overwhelmed by all you're experiencing and then have to rely on memory later. At least we have great news at the end of it all here.

Oh, did I welcome you to the human race ;-) ?


~ Lizzy
"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."
~ Oscar Wilde
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