Y. Bhekhirst

Y. Bhekhirst is an outsider musician based in New Hyde Park, New York.

Although not much is known about him, his sole known record, Hot in the Airport, released in 1986 and re-released in 1994 on New Hyde Park-based label HDG Records, is prized by some outsider music collectors for its decidedly dadaistic, shambling songs.^[1] Both releases of Hot in the Airport were cassette-only. The title track of the album, which has been described as "oblique",^[2] was released contemporaneously as a 7-inch single, and has been anthologized in the compilation Interesting Results: Music by a Committee of One. Slightly more polished musically than the other songs, it includes a number of lines sung in Spanish.

Information on Y. Bhekhirst is scarce. Irwin Chusid, who brought Bhekhirst's music to the public's attention in the mid-90s with Songs in the Key of Z, reported that a man calling himself Y. Bhekhirst was distributing his cassettes in New York record stores; handing them over to the clerks and then walking out abruptly without further explanation. Chusid and former colleague Michelle Boulé played selections from Hot in the Airport on numerous occasions when they worked together at station WFMU.^[3]

Searches at the U.S. Copyright Office have revealed that a man named José Hugo Díaz Guzmán (born in 1946 and also known as Pepe Díaz Guzmán) is somehow involved with Y's music, as the name "H. Díaz" or "H. Díazg" shows up on most known releases of material from Hot in the Airport. Some have speculated that Díaz Guzmán and Bhekhirst are the same individual.^[4]

Under various pseudonyms (such as "Al Pol", "Al Phol", "Al Phool" and "Al Phooz"), Díaz Guzmán appears to have copyrighted numerous songs and cassette recordings, the earliest in 1981 and the latest in 1992.^[5]

Albums

• Hot in the Airport (1986)

• Website on Y. Bhekhirst