Born: 1900, Rodosto, Turkey
Died: January 5, 1977, Queens, NY
Active years recording: 1927-1975
Label Association: Pharos Records, Metropolitan Records, Balkan Records

This month the Sound Archive turns to another canonical figure in the history of 20th century Armenian American recordings, Yetvart “Edward” Bogosian, affectionately referred to by friends as "Maestro Yetvart.” His work is as comic, playful, and bawdy as it is profound and impactful. Like several of the post-war bands we’ve discussed before, Bogosian's music is often mentioned in reference to the modern Armenian American music known as Kef. But artists like Bogosian and his peer Hovsep Shamlian predate and exceed this classification.

Born in 1900 in Rodosto, Turkey, Yetvart Bogosian was raised in a theatrical world. His father Nazaret was a professional actor and teacher, and before the age of twenty Yetvart was performing in the Armenian theaters of Constantinople. He was a skilled improviser and wrote short satirical plays. In 1921, Yetvart came to America, settling in New York City and promptly performing throughout the Northeast as Edward Bogosian. By March 1923, he had established his own theater company, staging a repertoire of dozens of classic, original, and adapted plays, with a focus on comedies.

Rooted in theater, Bogosian carved a path as a recording artist in the late 1920s and into the 1940s by adapting the energy of his live performance into songs. Bogosian’s humor was informed by the harsh social and political realities of his time. Between 1909 and 1941, Bogosian lived through the traumas of the Adana massacres, the 1915 Genocide, WWI, the rise of racist and anti-immigrant groups, the Great Depression, and WWII. Bogosian worked through these traumas from the stage and on record with a deeply satirical humor that resonated with his contemporaries, creating hits like Soodee Soodee. In that song Bogosian calls the listener to eat, drink, and enjoy “kef” (good times), while belting that:

"In this world everything is fake
It's fake, it's fake, it's fake
Everything is fake"

Soodee Soodee is characteristic of Bogosian's mature style from his later career, driven by direct and original lyrics.

This Sound Archive is also presenting Gnig Goozim, one of his earliest recordings published by the Pharos Records label in 1927. Bogosian recorded another five songs with Pharos in that year, all accompanied by violin, mandolin, and piano performed by the Gulazian group. The Pharos recordings show a more lighthearted style, suggesting what may have been the tone in his earlier theater work. 

The other two pieces presented here exemplify Bogosian's later work, both produced in the 1940s by the Metropolitan Record label. Aghchig Anounet A Rosy is an adaptation of  the song Atamant Madani written by his peer Hovsep Shamlian. While he treats the music in his own style, Bogosian is faithful to the lyrics as written by Shamlian, who was taking a similar approach to composing new songs and lyrics around traditional folk melodies at the time. In this vein, we hear Bogosian’s version of the tune Le Po Le Le, which he updates with a modern ensemble and driving force to the music, foreshadowing the aesthetics of the Kef genre. But beyond the title, he also completely alters the lyrics to create a wild and flirtatious song. For contrast, we’ve included an earlier rendition of Le Po Le Le attributed to an unknown vocalist, “B Kirkor”, and a violin player. This recording was reissued by the Odeon company but originally recorded in Constantinople in 1910 by the Favorite record company. While lines from the 1910 recording read poetically with phrases like, “Wind, let there be wind so my love's house will have a breeze,” Bogosian is shockingly crass by contrast: “Pretty girl stop being coy and get arranged (married). An Armenian boy will soon make you his love.”

Through his theatrical roots, satirical bite, and showmanship, Bogosian’s recordings and stage performances resonated with people. He not only captured their attention but gave voice to the difficult and tragic experiences of his generation. By packaging calls for celebration along with political critique and cries of frustration, he offered something real to his audience and shaped the musical direction of his community along the way.

A special thanks to the SJS Charitable Trust for their generous support of our work to digitize and share our collection of 78 rpm records.