"The Mystery of Aris San": A Brief Memory of the "Sirocco" and it's Remarkable Owner

When I was twelve or thirteen years old we were hired by Aris San to perform at his club "Sirocco" which was literally straight across town from the now defunct "Greektown 8th Avenue" district which was on West 29th St. The old Armenian Quarter was also not far from there on the East Side. My mother was already having woes with the NYC school board over the right to home school me and we were thinking of leaving town at the time. Our joint shows at the time involved "Laziko" with fire on our heads as an opening-if I'm not mistaken-we opened with that at his place. I remember my mother saying this nightclub was oft a hangout for the actor Anthony Quinn (I've since heard that Telly Savalas also frequented the place). I also remembered a musician with what seemed to almost be what they refer to now as a "Jewfro." I remember the audience was great and we were treated well by the management even though I was not fully aware what a huge star Aris was. He and his band were not the usual ones I had worked with over the years so I admit I did not know much about them. 

My mother and I did our solos after "Laziko" and then closed with a rousing "Karsilama." During "Karsilama" we over heard one musician saying loudly to the other "Those girls are going to be jealous of each other!" The other shot back in awe, "I heard one call the other one Mother!"

About a week or two after our shows the owner or manager of "The Astor" (who I believe played guitar too - not sure on that though) came to New York to court us with an offer to go to Washington, DC. My Mom and this guy tried to get us dinner at the "Sirocco" but they were strangely closed when we went over there.

I'm floored by what I've just recently learned about this amazing guy known as Aris San. Apparently, according to Dani Dotan's gut wrenching Isreali documentary "The Mystery of Aris San," like our own "Elvis," there is a chance that Aris San never died in 1992 but was given an alias and another chance at life. Another chance, free of the mafioso and drugs that seemed to destroy him and his nightclub along with it after an FBI sting and raid that shut down the club and sent Aris to jail for 2 years. Aris had succumbed to the drug "dujour" of the times, "cocaine" and years after "Cabaret Laws" were rescinded in NYC the underworld had finally made it's way into the "Greek Taverna." It was not long before this that they could be seen making a move on the last of the clubs for "protection," but here it seems they actually got "drug dealing" into an establishment.

Aris was rumored to be attacked in 1992 in Budapest and died of his injuries. This is something the documentary calls into question. Also, rumors of his being a spy seem to abound in various circles but apparently no proof was ever discovered. 

The documentary is mostly in Hebrew but a few folks interviewed speak English including his Greek relatives and some regular nightclub patrons who never got over his place going "down the tubes" after 12 years. His attempts at comebacks in the U.S. after the drug bust and jail time never really took off. This, after a spectacular break from an Israeli agent's discovery of him as a youth playing in "The Plaka." 

Aris San was a complicated and tragic man with an remarkable talent for playing guitar and performing. Despite his faults, he was, as I remember him, very friendly and I can honestly say I enjoyed the brief stint at the club. My mother fell ill within what seemed like a few weeks of working there and it was not too long after we left town to go to West Virginia to be with her mother. In some ways I regret we turned down the offer to go to "The Astor" in DC.

Instead, I enrolled in high school in WV and prepared for an uncertain future outside my beloved NYC. Today, I can honestly say, I will never forget the warm and loving atmosphere of the "Sirocco." An atmosphere as warm as the "desert breeze" it's name invoked.

I may have met the musician on the far right at the "Sirocco" later but I'm not sure. Similar hair though!

About the age I was when I worked the "Sirocco" with my mother Johanna. Photo by the late Jan Gallione, from a Fashion Institute of Technology show