Peter Deneff: Greek Jazz Fusion Pianist

05/24/19 • 47 min

Peter Deneff, an accomplished Pianist and Jazz Fusion musician, discusses his background, his involvement in the Los Angeles Middle Eastern Music club Scene, and his approach to microtonality and Jazz music.

Topics Include:

Deneff’s background as a Greek-American keyboard/piano musician, growing up in Long Beach/Los Angeles
Impact of the bouzouki on his musical development and interests and working with artists from other ethnic backgrounds
Collecting LPs and copying them to cassette tapes – compilations from the past and listening to those artists and how that influenced his playing and repertoire
The peak of the music scene at Athenian Gardens in the SoCal live cabaret/bellydance music scene in the 70s/80s/90s
The cultural melding of Greek and Gypsy/Turkish music (Skilarika), and the influence of Pontic Greeks in that style along with the music scene of Thessaloniki
Exposure to the Armenian music scene locally with aficionados and artists (Harout Khatchoyan, Yervand Kalajian, Vik Momjian, Hratch Yacoubian, Hovig Krikorian)
The impact of Persian and Arabic music on his career and how this blended with his Greek background in music
Detail of his studying with Mike Garson (legendary Jazz Pianist who worked with David Bowie)
Thoughts on music as a language with different dialects across middle eastern music and jazz
Would practice playing along to Charlie Parker’s music
Differences between makam music and jazz, and how they informed his understanding of proficiency in both styles
His use of microtonality in his music in makam and jazz music, and his first memory of hearing quarter tones used by a Lebanese tsiftelli record years ago
Discussion of various keyboards and synthesizers he uses in his music, and the use of scale converters for quarter-tone usage
Explanation of quarter tones in Arabic music, the use of 50 cent adjustments
Different flavors of microtonality he uses in his music, for example hijaz and the adjustment of various pitches within the mode and how live music can diverge from the uniformity and rigidity of the classical motif
Mention of playing quarter/microtones on the bouzouki from certain players
His attraction to how Armenian music in the 1970s and 1980s moved toward keyboard-centric instrumentation and the impact of this on his musical development
His performances are about speaking to the audience and interaction with people and the connections that arise from his music and performance
Keyboards and accordions used in Greek music, along with Farfisa organs
The “dead zone” of lacking keyboards in Greek music back several decades ago was not exploring keyboards like Armenian music was, and now there is a lot more clarinet and violin exposure with microtonality and reincorporation of traditional ethnic elements – which was not the scene when he was coming up playing music
Comments on some of the Greek keyboard players he listened too for musical guidance and perspective
His work with Enrico Macias
IM’s work with the synth app and upcoming sample library recording projects
Would love to do concerts with Bach and the Beatles, Kasansides, Paliyolokous
Excursion, Synthesi projects are a big focus for him

Topics Include:

Deneff’s background as a Greek-American keyboard/piano musician, growing up in Long Beach/Los Angeles
Impact of the bouzouki on his musical development and interests and working with artists from other ethnic backgrounds
Collecting LPs and copying them to cassette tapes – compilations from the past and listening to those artists and how that influenced his playing and repertoire
The peak of the music scene at Athenian Gardens in the SoCal live cabaret/bellydance music scene in the 70s/80s/90s
The cultural melding of Greek and Gypsy/Turkish music (Skilarika), and the influence of Pontic Greeks in that style along with the music scene of Thessaloniki
Exposure to the Armenian music scene locally with aficionados and artists (Harout Khatchoyan, Yervand Kalajian, Vik Momjian, Hratch Yacoubian, Hovig Krikorian)
The impact of Persian and Arabic music on his career and how this blended with his Greek background in music
Detail of his studying with Mike Garson (legendary Jazz Pianist who worked with David Bowie)
Thoughts on music as a language with different dialects across middle eastern music and jazz
Would practice playing along to Charlie Parker’s music
Differences between makam music and jazz, and how they informed his understanding of proficiency in both styles
His use of microtonality in his music in makam and jazz music, and his first memory of hearing quarter tones used by a Lebanese tsiftelli record years ago
Discussion of various keyboards and synthesizers he uses in his music, and the use of scale converters for quarter-tone usage
Explanation of quarter tones in Arabic music, the use of 50 cent adjustments
Different flavors of microtonality he uses in his music, for example hijaz and the adjustment of various pitches within the mode and how live music can diverge from the uniformity and rigidity of the classical motif
Mention of playing quarter/microtones on the bouzouki from certain players
His attraction to how Armenian music in the 1970s and 1980s moved toward keyboard-centric instrumentation and the impact of this on his musical development
His performances are about speaking to the audience and interaction with people and the connections that arise from his music and performance
Keyboards and accordions used in Greek music, along with Farfisa organs
The “dead zone” of lacking keyboards in Greek music back several decades ago was not exploring keyboards like Armenian music was, and now there is a lot more clarinet and violin exposure with microtonality and reincorporation of traditional ethnic elements – which was not the scene when he was coming up playing music
Comments on some of the Greek keyboard players he listened too for musical guidance and perspective
His work with Enrico Macias
IM’s work with the synth app and upcoming sample library recording projects
Would love to do concerts with Bach and the Beatles, Kasansides, Paliyolokous
Excursion, Synthesi projects are a big focus for him

Previous Episode

John Berberbian: Oud Master

Andrew sits down and interviews Oud master John Berberian about his life, 50-year career in music, balancing work and the arts and performing throughout the country.

Topics Include:

Working with record labels making albums with Mainstream Records, Verve Forecast, RCA and MGM starting in the early 1960s
The thriving Middle Eastern music scene of Berberian's early years, and the mixing and collaboration of different cultures
Berberian's father's role as an oud player in his musical development, and the initial design to start with the violin
Using western classical approaches to play Middle Eastern music
The comparison of Ravi Shankar and the Sitar to the industry effort to promote the oud
The landmark oud rock album
Berberian's love of Arab music
Discussion of different types of oud playing
The symbiotic relationship of the oud and the guitar and making music with these instruments together
Advice to those learning the oud

Next Episode

Joseph Tayoun: Philly's Middle Eastern Music Scene

Joseph Tayoun, an accomplished percussionist and educator specializing in Middle Eastern and World music based in Philadelphia discusses the history of Philadelphia's Middle East Night Club, his experience playing in a multitude of world music projects and his Star Trek Party band, The Roddenberries, upcoming release.

Topics include:

Tayoun as the torchbearer of the Philadelphia middle eastern music scene, an accomplished percussionist and the time spent at his family’s establishment “The Middle East” restaurant as part of the trendy middle eastern music scene.
Discussion of the diverse array of middle eastern cultures playing music together.
Tayoun’s background starting up as a drummer playing with various musicians of different backgrounds.
Belly dancing and live music 7 nights a week was truly a special time for Tayoun as a youngster
Tayoun’s father played the oud and he was immersed in live performance of Arabs, Armenians, Turks, Greeks, etc.
Ray Merjanian (oud), Najib Nassar (organ), Chick Ganimian (oud) and Tayoun played with Chick when Tayoun was only 14 years old. Chick was known for his expressive and unique style of playing featuring syncopation and Tayoun was impacted greatly by this. Chick also played with Herbie Mann.
Tayoun also played with Farhak Alpar (Saz), Garip (violin), Edmund Joseph (percussion/vocals), Joseph Budway (oud), Bobby Sarkissian (clarinet) and various others.
The Middle East restaurant was the music hub for this style for many years (along with Café Yaz) until about 1997, and how some other restaurants offered late night music (Greek spots like Little Pete’s and also Buffalo Bills in West Philadelphia), and the emergence of the Nile restaurant. The Middle East booked shows with No Doubt and Bo Diddley, in addition to the standard Middle Eastern scene.
Edmund Joseph’s arrival from Iran and his impact on the Middle Eastern music scene in both Philadelphia and New York City.
Tayoun’s early years developing as a percussionist watching his father and the older musicians, and starting with tambourine and then percussion.
Hamid Dolbashi’s performances with ney and zurna and his command of the music and how easily he fit in with other musicians.
Tayoun’s time playing music with his future brother-in-law Roger Mgrdichian, and their strong onstage chemistry.
Going from rock to fusion, with projects like Barakka and also Jaffna which features a tabla, oud and guitar, and how this has had an impact on his playing and keeping him sharp.
Tayoun works with emotionally disturbed children in Morrisville, PA and shares his music and drumming which is very beneficial to the brain.
Works with various musicians from all over the world, including Chinese and even sci-fi related artists (a Star Trek tribute band named “The Roddenberries”) at Fringe Festival.
For the 50th Anniversary of the creation of Star Trek, Rod Roddenberry (Gene Roddenberry’s son) hired Tayoun and the band to perform in Las Vegas.
Tayoun’s advice for playing percussion in the Middle Eastern style.
The upcoming Middle East tribute night at Frankie Bradleys on June 13th with live music and belly dancers
The upcoming CD Release party on June 27th at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia for The Roddenberries