MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST LEVON ICHKHANIAN OLYMPIC TOUR WITH DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER, SHIELA E AND OTHERS
All About Jazz
2203
Aug 25 2008
PA
Multi-instrumentalist/producer Levon Ichkhanian joins Shiela E, Dee
Dee Bridgewater, Oliver Jones, Taylor Dane and others on the Marriage
of Excellence Tour in China. The musical and cultural tours will
deliver the highest quality entertainment performances with specially
taped messages from Celine Dion, Chaka Khan and Itzhak Perlman. Held
during the 10 days between the Olympics and Paralympic games, the tour
will demonstrate the power of the Arts in fostering cross-cultural
understanding and excellence that can be achieved when we live the
notion of "One World, One Dream" … the slogan for the 2008 Olympics.
This concept is not new to Levon, who was born in Lebanon, had
traveled around the world with his musical director father, Edouard,
before immigrating to Canada at the age of 12. Growing up in a family
rich in music, his uncle Joseph is the founder of the Conservatory
in Beirut (still in existence today), uncle Jacques was a flamenco
guitarist, and cousin Hovannes Darbinian is the world leading scholar
and performer of the Armenian Tar, it was only natural for Levon to
follow suit performing his first professional gig at the age of 13.
"I had several monumental experiences growing up which had a rich
influence on me culturally and musically. My Dad exposed me to jazz
and continental music letting me sit in during his band rehearsals and
taking the family to places like Yemen, Cyprus and Jordan. My uncle
Joseph would often host gatherings filled with musicians, dancers and
painters celebrating their art. I also have vivid memories of spending
summer trips with my family to the Northern part of Lebanon. At night
there would be parties filled with traditional Armenian and popular
Arabic music (Adiss and Fairuz were the favorites), dancing and lots of
food that went on until the small hours of the night. These experiences
have influenced me profoundly in my music and in my person. I believe
that music is the common voice for all cultures, so, it was an honour
to be asked to perform and represent my culture during the Tour."
Over the past 30 years, Levon’s scope of knowledge has spanned over
all areas of music – performing, composing, recording, touring, and
producing in several genres including Jazz, World and Traditional
music. He is just fresh off performing the Canadian stage tour of
Spamalot. His playing talents include fretless and fretted electric
and acoustic guitars, Oud, Bouzouki, Banjitar and Mandolin, and most
recently the Irish Bouzouki which he performed in the Orchestra for
the stage production of The Lord Of The Rings.
Levon has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe,
performing at festivals and concert halls such as Peter Gabriel’s
WOMAD, MIDEM (Cannes), Chet Atkins Musician Days (Nashville), All Star
Guitar Night (Los Angeles), Montreal Jazz Festival and Pizza Express
Jazz Club (London, UK) to name a few, in addition to touring with
notables as Peter Murphy (of Bauhaus fame), Marisa Lindsay (singing
sensation from Barbados) and A.R. Rahman’s (one of the world’s top
10 all-time top selling recording artists, and composer of stage
productions Bombay Dreams and The Lord of the Rings) 3D World Tour
which took Levon to India, Singapore, Dubai and the United Kingdom.
Levon has three solo C.D.s: Kick-n Jazz with Bernard Purdie, After
Hours (which features Grammy Award winners Paquito D’Rivera and John
Patitucci) and Travels (featuring Alain Caron), to rave reviews in All
Music Guide to Jazz, Jazztimes, The Jazz Report, Canadian Musician,
Gitarist, Horizon and Nor Gyank magazines to name a few. Levon has
published articles in such magazines as Guitar Player and Canadian
Musician, and has also been the subject of cover features for magazines
as Muzic Etc, Canadian Musician and most recently Musicopro.
As a session musician, Levon has played on over one hundred diverse
commercial recordings including The Canadian Idol’s gold selling
C.D., India’s renowned singer Hariharan’s latest Waqt Par Bolna,
soprano and multiple Juno Award winner Isabel Bayrakdarian’s Tango
Notturno. He also performed on numerous soundtracks for films,
commercials and television, including environmentalist David Suzuki’s
Nature of Things, the CBC documentaries Daughters of Afghanistan
and Robbing the Cradle of Civilization (New York Festival’s Silver
World Medal winner for Television Documentary [International]), and
AR Rahman’s Guru, Sivaji and Rang De Basanti. He has also composed
for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and the Atlantic Jazz Society,
scored soundtracks for the likes of acclaimed filmmaker Atom Egoyan,
as well as produced artists C.D.s, concerts and staged productions.
Upon his return from performing in Beijing, Levon will be returning
to the studio to record his next CD and is putting the finishing
touches to an improvisation method book.