Born: 1881, Kharpert | Died: 1968, Medford, MA
Active years (recording): 1925
Label Association: Yeprad Record Company

Note: The recordings presented here are nearly 100 years old and have substantial condition issues. Their rarity however is notable and so we’ve done our best to edit them for listenability.

As a recurring theme here on the Sound Archive, we've explored the cultural preservation undertaken by Armenians from Kharpert who built new lives in and around New England in the early 20th century. Before arriving in the United States, these individuals were first driven from their homeland in Kharpert during the massacres of 1895-96, and ultimately deported during the Genocide of 1915.

Those who did survive and seek refuge abroad understood the acute vulnerability and preciousness of their cultural heritage. It is no accident that in the 1920s, several of these individuals personally invested in recording and publishing folk songs from the Kharpert region. We’ve discussed the most prolific of these musicians, Vartan Margosian. But here we would like to introduce the recordings of Kaspar Janjanian, who recorded on the Boston-based Yeprad Record Company, a label with only three known discs in its catalog.

It should be stressed that independently produced recordings were relatively rare in America during the 1920s, and even more so was the release of music by Armenian Americans. Contributors included not only Vartan Margosian and Kaspar Janjanian but prolific labels like, M.G Parsekian Records, Sohag Records, and Pharos Records, run by Armenians from other regions (most notably Dikranagerd.)

By the 1940s, the technology and infrastructure to self-record and produce records was far more accessible; in that period, independent labels cropped up in all genres and communities throughout the US. But in the 1920s, this infrastructure was not nearly as accessible, with the major record companies (Columbia, Victor, etc.) holding a virtual monopoly on all records made and sold in the country. While independent label ventures were not unheard of in this period, it was rare for diaspora communities who had only recently immigrated to the US to produce recordings of their own musical traditions. Given the context, the fact that Armenian performers and producers still managed to record these songs speaks to the great cultural significance which this music held among these diaspora communities.

It’s with the spirit and motivation outlined above that George (Kevork) Arslanian, a Kharpert born cobbler working in Boston, established Yeprad Record Company in 1925. That year, the label published its only three known records, all featuring the singer Kaspar Janjanian. Biographical details on Kaspar, George, and the other performers involved are sparse, but we do know the following: Kaspar was born in 1883 in Kharpert and came to the United States in 1907. Once settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he began work as a locksmith. He recorded only six songs on the Yeprad label. On one disc he is joined by the Kirkor Geljookian Orchestra. Kirkor, born 1879,  was a clarinetist who had also come to Boston from Kharpert. Presented here is the song Menk High Aghvor Aghchig, which features Kaspar accompanied by Kirkor on clarinet and an unidentified kanun player.

The song is a priceless gem of Armenian folklore that does not appear to have been recorded by anyone else. It is a wedding song from the Kharpert region and especially associated with Agn, depicting the groom's family coming to take the bride away from her parents to unite her with the groom and join their family. The other two songs presented here are Koo Anoonet A Varter and Yeg Anooshigh, in which Kaspar is accompanied by violin and clarinet attributed to the so far unidentified musicians “Harry and Melcon.”

The aesthetic of these records was crafted to accurately represent the folk tradition of the region. This objective was stated in advertisements at the time and is reflected in the beautiful graphics of the record label which depicts a shepherd playing a flute called a "srink" (today in Armenia, it's referred to as "blul".) Long before the popularity of the duduk, the srink was used as a symbol of the Armenian musical spirit and rural lifestyle.

The imagery of the record label along with the name "Yeprad" (Euphrates) clearly intends to evoke the spirit of Historic Armenia and the Kharpert region in particular, through which the Upper and Lower tributaries of the Euphrates meet and then flow through a ravine in the Taurus Mountains, into Mesopotamia. With Kaspar, much like Vartan Margosian, we are hearing the voice and character of everyday people: locksmiths and photo engravers rather than artists trained through the theaters, operas, and nightclubs of Constantanople, Yerevan, or New York City.

While all these settings and the music they generate have value, it’s the documentation of everyday music by everyday people, from a community that had been dismantled by empire, which resonates loudly 99 years later.

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.