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Legendary Armenian-American jazz pianist and cigar manufacturer Avo Uvezian passed away on March 24, two days after his 91st birthday, Panorama.am reports referring to cigaraficionado.com.

“Yes, I am probably a happy man. But do you know what I need for a complete happiness? –visiting my homeland and seeing the Mount Ararat,” the author of «Strangers in the Night” hit said years ago. Avo Uvezian also founded the Avo Cigars brand.

The legendary musician dreamt of visiting Armenia.

“I will undoubtedly visit Armenia,” Uvezian recently said at the ceremony of receiving Armenian Prime Minister’s Medal on the occasion of his 90th birthday anniversary.

Avo Uvezian was born in 1926, the son of a family of musicians in Beirut, after the family survived the mass slaughters of the Armenians in Turkey.

Uvezian’s success in business activity was as noticeable as in music. Recommended by his friend Jacque Melqonyan, who has experience in cigar production and marketing, Uvezian initiated his cigar business under Avo brand, which translated into Armenian as “good new”.

According to reports, Fidel Castro personally used to call Uvezian to ask for several boxes of “Avo” cigars. George W. Bush reportedly approached Uvezian in a hotel to get acquainted with the producer of his favorite cigars.