John Bilezikjian
| John Bilezikjian | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Bilezikjian |
| Born | February 1, 1948 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Died | January 19, 2015 (aged 66) Mission Viejo, California, United States |
| Genres | Folk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, entertainer |
| Instruments | Oud, mandolin, violin/viola, ukulele, keyboard, balalaika, clarinet, bass guitar, recorder, percussion, vocals |
| Labels | Dantz Records |
| Associated acts | Leonard Cohen |
John Bilezikjian (February 1, 1948 – January 19, 2015) was an Armenian Los Angeles-based musician and composer. Most renowned as an oud master, he also played the violin, mandolin and dumbek. He was also a traditional and contemporary singer singing in Armenian, but also in Turkish, Assyrian/Syriac, English and known for his contributions to world music as a solo act and in collaborations with renowned artists. He established his own record company, Dantz Records in Laguna Hills, California making many recordings, and appearing in tens of film soundtracks.
Collaborations included Leonard Cohen in Recent Songs (1979) after touring with him on his live concerts, resulting in Cohen Live album in 1994 and The Smokey Life Tour recorded in 1979. He played oud in Cohen's 1988 album I'm Your Man. In 1992, he collaborated with British singer Robert Palmer in the latter's album Ridin' High, where he played oud and dumbek in "Want You More". In 1997, he recorded with Mexican singer Luis Miguel in the latter's album playing mandolin in Romances and in 1994 with Plácido Domingo in De Mi Alma Latina and in 1999 in Por Amor.
In 2002, he joined the world music band Brothers of the Baladi recording in their album Hope. He also played with the Armenian-American musician Armen Chakmakian and singers Roupen Altiparmakian and Andy Madadian
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