HUFFINGTON
02.16.14
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MUSIC
LÉVON MINASSIAN
MAGIC SAM
KIM WESTON
Doudouk virtuoso Lévon Minassian
was born in Marseille of Armenian
descent. In his boyhood, he took up
the mandolin before moving on to the
doudouk in his teens. Minassian paid
his dues touring Europe and quickly
gravitated to soundtracks. In the early
’90s, he hit the road with Peter Gabriel
and met a world of acclaim, leading
to a sundry of collaborative projects.
In 1999, he released his solo debut.
Minassian was honored with knighthood in the French Ordre des Arts et
des Lettres in 2003, and three years
later he released his second project
(with composer Armand Amar). Film
credits include The Passion of the
Christ, Mayrig, 588 Rue Paradis, The
Species, Amen, The Sleeping Child,
The Earth From Above, The Girl and
the Wolf, Ce Que le Jour Doit à la Nuit,
Bab’Aziz, Indigénes and La Terre Vue
du Ciel. Collaborations include Sting,
Afro Celt Sound System, Hélène
Ségara, Charles Aznavour, Georges
Garvarentz, the Bulgarian Symphony
Orchestra, Costa-Gavras and Djivan
Gasparyan. Download “Delé Yaman
(Love Song),” from Lévon Minassian’s
1999 The Doudouk–Beyond Borders.
Westside Chicago bluesman “Magic
Sam” Maghett was born in the Mississippi Delta region on Valentine’s
Day 1937. Raised by sharecro