This is a second part of a collection of the earliest Near Eastern recordings made in the U.S.
The first recordings in America for commercial release in the Turkish language were 20 songs made by Columbia Records in New York on February 13, 1912. Further sessions were made in October of that year. Another ten songs were recorded in September 1915. Three sessions were made in February, July, and August of 1916. Between September 1912 and Febraury 1916, 44 songs were recorded in total.
The recordings here are presented here in strict chronological order in which they were recorded. All are first takes. The performers were entirely Armenians, Assyrians, Syrian Christians, or Greeks to the best of our knowledge.
Tracks 1-8 were recorded Feb. 1916.
Tracks 9-10 were recorded July 1916.
Tracks 11-16 were recorded July-Aug 1916