Ara Kekedjian and the Sound of Bourj Hammoud
Words by Darone Sassounian
I have faint but cherished memories of the first time I heard Ara Kekedjian’s music. Growing up Armenian in the diaspora, my family, like many others, filled our shelves with tapes and records from musicians across our community. I still remember finally being tall enough to reach the cupboard in our living room, pulling down a familiar cassette with a handwritten Armenian label: Ara – Children’s Songs Vol. 2. It was one of the tapes that played in the car each morning before school. At the time, I didn’t realize that these drives were more than routine—they were my first encounters with what it meant to be Armenian through music: joyful, inventive, and proudly rooted in heritage.
Among the few artists who recorded for children, Ara stood out. His music was playful, bold, and unmistakably Armenian. With syncopated organ lines, layered percussion, and unconventional rhythms, his songs felt different from the more somber folk traditions I’d grown up around. His work had bounce, humor, and imagination.
As a teenager, I began hearing more of Ara’s recordings—often while my father grilled in our backyard with a glass of arak in hand, “Seta Seta” blasting from a scratched CD that skipped from overuse. When I suggested swapping the disc, my dad smirked and revealed he had Ara’s original vinyls from his youth in Bourj Hammoud, tucked away upstairs. That was the moment I realized Ara’s music wasn’t just entertainment—it was a bridge across generations, rooted in the cultural heartbeat of Lebanon’s Armenian quarter.
Years later, after I released Silk Road: Journey of the Armenian Diaspora (1971–1982), I searched for Ara’s family, hoping to license one of his tracks. Despite the stereotype that all Armenians “know someone who knows someone,” I found no trace of his relatives in Lebanon or the U.S. Then, unexpectedly, at a crowded Los Angeles event, I crossed paths with Carla and George Kekejian—siblings who turned out to be Ara’s great-niece and nephew. Soon after, I was introduced to their father, Sevag, who still runs an electronics repair shop across the street from one of my favorite Lebanese restaurants in LA. The family connection I had been searching for abroad had been in my own backyard all along.
Through Sevag, and later his twin brother Souren in Beirut, we (Habibi Funk’s Jannis Stürtz and I) finally had a way to preserve Ara’s legacy. Ara never married or had children, so their stewardship was vital in opening the door to sharing his work once more.
The Making of a Legend
Born Arakel Souren Kekedjian in 1946 in Bourj Hammoud, Ara Kekedjian was the son of genocide survivors from Cilicia. Like thousands of Armenians who fled to Beirut after losing their ancestral homes, his family rebuilt their lives in the shantytown that would become a cultural powerhouse. By the 1950s and 60s, Bourj Hammoud had blossomed into the beating heart of Armenian music in the diaspora.
At just 17, Ara chose music over his studies at Collège Saint Jean l'Apôtre. Inspired by the French yé-yé craze but advised by mentors to blend global pop with Armenian roots, he formed bands such as Les Vampires and Les Lunettes Noires. In 1965, his group shocked audiences by performing “Ayo Ayo” in Armenian during Lebanon’s televised Pêle-Mêle song competition— the first time the language was heard on national TV. They won, and the victory marked a turning point in Lebanese-Armenian popular music.
Ara soon launched a solo career, collaborating with figures like Setrak Sarkissian, Adiss Harmandian, and Manuel Menengichian. His sound fused Armenian dance rhythms with electric guitar riffs, organ grooves, and a distinctly psychedelic energy. On stage, he was magnetic— playing guitar behind his back or even with his teeth—earning him a devoted following among younger audiences across Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and beyond.
By the mid-1970s, Ara had released three solo albums, multiple 45s, and children’s records that would become staples of Armenian households. His music shop, Music Centre, in Bourj Hammoud became both a hub for young musicians and a refuge during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War. Even amid chaos, Ara never stopped recording, teaching, and performing— sometimes even during ceasefires in local courtyards.
A Cultural Bridge
Kekedjian’s contributions went beyond “party music.” He helped shape what became known as Estradayin—modern Armenian pop music—at a time when such cultural expressions were restricted in Soviet Armenia. His children’s albums, meanwhile, gave young Armenians in Lebanon and the diaspora a way to learn language and culture through song.
Songs like “Seta Seta” and “Ghapama” carried a hypnotic energy that lives on decades later. They were bold experiments that reimagined folk traditions with Western and Arabic influences, creating a sound that was distinctly diasporic. For many who grew up in Bourj Hammoud, Ara’s music wasn’t just entertainment—it was the soundtrack of survival, adaptation, and joy. But life was not easy. Throughout his career, Ara struggled with chronic illness, a battle he kept private even as he continued to perform and run his shop. By the late 1990s, his health forced him to step back, though he remained a fixture in Bourj Hammoud until his passing in 2011 at age 65.
Legacy
Not all musicians from Bourj Hammoud received the recognition they deserved, but Ara Kekedjian’s influence is undeniable. He was the first Estradayin recording artist in the Armenian diaspora, and his work paved the way for others who would follow. His music embodied the resilience of a community that, after surviving displacement and genocide, rebuilt its cultural identity from the ground up.
Bourj Hammoud remains a living testament to that resilience. Its streets and markets still echo with the voices and traditions of generations who refused to let their heritage fade. Ara’s music was born from that environment—and it continues to remind us that even in times of struggle, creativity and joy endure.
In loving memory of Arakel Souren Kekedjian (1946–2011), a true pillar of Armenian music.
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