Friends of MusiCaravan

Below are links to sites you may find interesting or useful.

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www.mikeouds.com is the most inclusive and extensive website on the net on the subject of the oud, mostly thanks to its many forums. It has sound clips and instruction, and seven different forums that cover everything from oud construction to history, and posts about music for related instruments such as cobza.

Mavrothis Kontanis is an excellent oudi and teacher on the US East Coast who maintains this excellent website with pages on oud basics, makams, excercises, links and online lessons! http://www.oudcafe.com/

http://www.oud.eclipse.co.uk/ is David Parfitt's oud website. It's one of the oldest oud sites, and is chock full of valuable information. including history, basics, music theory, recordings, photos and links.

Yair Dalal plays oud and violin and sings, performing traditional and original music in Arabic and Hebrew. Originally from Iraq and currently residing in Israel, he tours internationally with a talented multi-ethnic ensemble that includes both Arabs and Jews. He is dedicated to bringing about peace and friendship between all the cultures of the Middle East. http://www.yairdalal.co

Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley performs music that redefines the word "eclectic." Lindley, well known for his many years as the featured accompanist with Jackson Browne, and leader of his own band El Rayo-X, has long championed the concept of world music. The David Lindley electro-acoustic performance effortlessly combines American folk, blues, and bluegrass traditions with elements from African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy, and Turkish musical sources. Lindley incorporates an incredible array of stringed instruments including but not limited to Kona and Weissenborn Hawaiian lap steel guitar, Turkish saz and chumbus, Middle Eastern oud, and Irish bouzouki. The eye-poppingly clad "Mr. Dave's" uncanny vocal mimicry and demented sense of humor make his onstage banter a highlight of the show. http://www.davidlindley.com/index.htm

Halil Karaduman is one of the world's most amazing musicians. He is a formidable kanun player, and has accompanied the most famous Turkish artists on their records and their live performances, including Zeki Müren, Bülent Ersoy, Müzeyyen Senar, İbrahim Tatlıses, Sezen Aksu, Zülfü Livaneli. He is also an exquisite vocalist in his own right, performing the highest level of classical Turkish music as well as popular, and a prolific composer. Halil has toured the world over, and has visited the U.S. many times with Oudi Necati Çelik to perform, record and teach. You can see him in our photo gallery, and at his very interesting website at http://www.halilkaraduman.com/eng/index.php

John Bilezikjian is an awesome entertainer—an oud player with a unique style incorporating full harmonies, and a fabulous multi-lingual singer. His music embraces the traditions of Armenia, Turkey, the Arab World, Greece, Russia, Israel, Eastern Europe, Spain, Asia and Latin America. He has written and recorded rock 'n roll, music for belly dancing, television and motion picture soundtracks, and has produced a myriad of original compositions. John has given command performances for the King and Queen of Spain and for Mrs. Anwar Sadat, and has filmed and recorded background music for over 50 TV and Motion Picture Film Soundtracks. He has appeared with The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and with Boston Pops Orchestra as featured soloist. He has his own record company, Dantz Records in Laguna Hills, California and has made over 25 CD's that are available on his web site, http://www.dantzrecords.com/index.htm

Gryphon Strings is associated with Frank Ford, who is the premier authority on repair and construction of fretted stringed instruments. He also maintains a personal website at www.frets.com. Frank has compiled and posted a phenomenal library of photographically illustrated procedures and techniques that he has researched and developed, along with expositions on materials. These, along with links to virtually any resource an instrument maker could want, make him and his sites one of the most remarkable and valuable resources on the internet for instrument makers!

Alan Young is an extraordinary Bay Area jazz pianist. An accomplished recording artist, accompanist, composer and musical shahman, he also presides over ToTeM, the Temple of Transformative Music, whose mission is to provide a supportive space for the interactio of spiritual work and music—where musicians can deepen the spiritual focus of their performance, and where people in search of a transformation or healing may access the music that support their quest. http://www.hummingbear.net/~aayoung/ and http://www.sonic.net/~aayoung/Mission.html

Andy Kasparian is an amature oud builder whose site has some interesting personal history, and a great links page. http://www.geocities.com/antronig/oud.htm

The Clearing Institute, www.clearingtech.net and HL Publishers constitute Hank Levin's "day job." He is an authority on biomonitor-guided personal consultations, writing books, teaching and lecturing on the subject. Shown here is his latest book, Clearing—A Guide for Professionals. You can read about it here.

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