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Critics' Forum
Music
Elements of a Universal Alphabet
By Sam Ekizian
The musical forms known as folk-fusion and folk revival have often
served as the vehicles of creative expression for performers seeking
to adapt, translate, and modernize traditional musical styles. The
new folk-fusion scene draws inspiration from widespread and
multicultural sources, a process that often entails the
popularization of previously non-mainstream music, the adaptation of
folk styles to pop and rock structures, and the introduction of new
instruments.
Within the Armenian music community, performers such as Arto
Tuncboyaciyan, Gor Mkhitarian, and Armen Chakmakian have already led
critically acclaimed forays into the folk-fusion scene. With the
recent debut of its full-length album, "Yev O Phe," Element has
navigated into this emerging but still somewhat forbidden genre.
The band includes Ara Dabandjian (keyboard, guitar, accordion), Saro
Koujakian (vocals and guitar), Gars Sherbetdjian (vocals), Shant
Mahserejian (violin), and Jeremy Millado (bass). Dabandjian is
also the band's arranger as well as creative and musical director.
Element performs traditional Armenian folk songs as well as more
contemporary compositions laced with its own sensibilities, some of
them distinctly non-Armenian. The band's members are aligned in
their determination to elevate their cultural heritage through
music, while paying homage to South American and Mediterranean
traditions - the band's stylings are variously embossed with the
sounds of Flamenco, Tango, Rembetika, as well as more contemporary
influences.
This commingling of cultures has been the source of much debate.
After all, it tests the bounds of Armenian cultural identity and
seems to present a considerable obstacle to the adaptation of
traditional Armenian music. Therefore, precisely because fusion
presents fertile ground for artistic exploration, it may find itself
bound by a number of powerful cultural constraints, including
anxieties about assimilation. As a result, the growing influence of
fusion may be viewed by some as the dilution of an otherwise pure
sound and a deep-seated cultural memory.
But that view conveniently ignores the fact that much of Armenian
music has developed precisely as a result of its interaction with
outside elements and its rich fusion of disparate influences. After
all, Gomidas Vartabed himself, an ordained monk and
ethnomusicologist, spent the early 1900s initiating a renaissance of
traditional Armenian folk music by visiting far-flung provinces and
villages to take record of the varied traditions of native songs and
dances found there.
Gomidas's quest clearly suggests that Armenian music is an
undeniably fecund source of musical expression and adaptation. The
characteristic palette of this expression, both musically and
lyrically, manifests itself in rural songs of yearning, spiritual
songs of remembrance, and other traditional expressions of longing,
lament, and rebirth. The recent popularity of folk-fusion and folk
revival reminds us that these musical styles, like traditional
Armenian music itself, succeed when they manage to remain true to
the intrinsic features and inherent values of the various musical
influences they bring together.
"Yev O Phe" delivers Element's unique expression of folk-fusion by
seamlessly incorporating deft instrumentation, lush vocal harmonies,
and rich multi-ethnic musical styles. And nowhere in the album does
the band impose embellishments otherwise foreign to its core musical
material. The songs are not weighted down by deliberate rock
inflections or plodding digital treatments. The album also manages
to retain the purity of the folk elements and various instruments it
brings together. And throughout, the sound somehow remains
undeniably Armenian.
"Yev O Phe" is elevated by Dabandjian's hypnotic arrangements and
his superb command of several different instruments, as well as
Koujakian's deeply soulful vocals. In fact, the most alluring
tracks on the album are those featuring this combination's
performances. Dabandjian's talents are on full display on the
album's fifth track, "Yar Ko Parag Boyin Mernem," which manages to
make a powerful emotional impact while retaining an understated
delicacy. Koujakian's masculine yet smooth vocals take center stage
on "Mardigi Yerke" and "Anoush Hayrenik," without overpowering the
songs. All in all, "Yev O Phe" represents a powerful fusion of
fervent rhythms and infectious melodies, rippled through with multi-
layered and multi-ethnic influences.
It is worth mentioning that Element is an accomplished live act.
There is an immediacy and improvisational aspect to the band's live
performances that lend themselves well to its particular adaptation
and re-imagination of the fusion genre. During a recent show at the
Ford Amphitheatre, Element's soulful performance enveloped the
audience and drew it inescapably into the music being performed on
stage. This captivating quality of Element's music is due in no
small part to the band's repertoire, at once intimately familiar and
distinctly different, allowing listeners to celebrate their own
cultural heritage while embracing a more universal perspective.
Element has already acquired a diverse and loyal fan base. But it is
too early to declare whether the band has brought Armenian folk
music back into our collective consciousness or successfully bridged
geographic, linguistic, and multi-cultural divides. What is
undeniable, however, is that Element has cast aside deep-seated
cultural constraints and adopted a more progressive musical register.
In the current era of globalization, music has become the
indispensable mode of communication and integration, a modern and
universal vernacular. Fusion provides opportunities to use varying
elements of this vernacular to stretch creative boundaries and to
spread indigenous music to wider audiences, a crucial stage in the
evolution of the world music scene and of Armenian music itself.
Element's rendering of folk music is nothing more than an extension
of this evolution, the adoption of a genuinely universal alphabet.
All Rights Reserved: Critics Forum, 2006
Sam Ekizian has been involved with the Armenian cultural and music
scene for over two decades and has helped introduce artists to West
Coast audiences.
You can reach him or any of the other contributors to Critics' Forum
at [email protected]. This and all other articles published
in this series are available online at www.criticsforum.org. To
sign up for a weekly electronic version of new articles, go to
www.criticsforum.org/join. Critics' Forum is a group created to
discuss issues relating to Armenian art and culture in the Diaspora.
Music
Elements of a Universal Alphabet
By Sam Ekizian
The musical forms known as folk-fusion and folk revival have often
served as the vehicles of creative expression for performers seeking
to adapt, translate, and modernize traditional musical styles. The
new folk-fusion scene draws inspiration from widespread and
multicultural sources, a process that often entails the
popularization of previously non-mainstream music, the adaptation of
folk styles to pop and rock structures, and the introduction of new
instruments.
Within the Armenian music community, performers such as Arto
Tuncboyaciyan, Gor Mkhitarian, and Armen Chakmakian have already led
critically acclaimed forays into the folk-fusion scene. With the
recent debut of its full-length album, "Yev O Phe," Element has
navigated into this emerging but still somewhat forbidden genre.
The band includes Ara Dabandjian (keyboard, guitar, accordion), Saro
Koujakian (vocals and guitar), Gars Sherbetdjian (vocals), Shant
Mahserejian (violin), and Jeremy Millado (bass). Dabandjian is
also the band's arranger as well as creative and musical director.
Element performs traditional Armenian folk songs as well as more
contemporary compositions laced with its own sensibilities, some of
them distinctly non-Armenian. The band's members are aligned in
their determination to elevate their cultural heritage through
music, while paying homage to South American and Mediterranean
traditions - the band's stylings are variously embossed with the
sounds of Flamenco, Tango, Rembetika, as well as more contemporary
influences.
This commingling of cultures has been the source of much debate.
After all, it tests the bounds of Armenian cultural identity and
seems to present a considerable obstacle to the adaptation of
traditional Armenian music. Therefore, precisely because fusion
presents fertile ground for artistic exploration, it may find itself
bound by a number of powerful cultural constraints, including
anxieties about assimilation. As a result, the growing influence of
fusion may be viewed by some as the dilution of an otherwise pure
sound and a deep-seated cultural memory.
But that view conveniently ignores the fact that much of Armenian
music has developed precisely as a result of its interaction with
outside elements and its rich fusion of disparate influences. After
all, Gomidas Vartabed himself, an ordained monk and
ethnomusicologist, spent the early 1900s initiating a renaissance of
traditional Armenian folk music by visiting far-flung provinces and
villages to take record of the varied traditions of native songs and
dances found there.
Gomidas's quest clearly suggests that Armenian music is an
undeniably fecund source of musical expression and adaptation. The
characteristic palette of this expression, both musically and
lyrically, manifests itself in rural songs of yearning, spiritual
songs of remembrance, and other traditional expressions of longing,
lament, and rebirth. The recent popularity of folk-fusion and folk
revival reminds us that these musical styles, like traditional
Armenian music itself, succeed when they manage to remain true to
the intrinsic features and inherent values of the various musical
influences they bring together.
"Yev O Phe" delivers Element's unique expression of folk-fusion by
seamlessly incorporating deft instrumentation, lush vocal harmonies,
and rich multi-ethnic musical styles. And nowhere in the album does
the band impose embellishments otherwise foreign to its core musical
material. The songs are not weighted down by deliberate rock
inflections or plodding digital treatments. The album also manages
to retain the purity of the folk elements and various instruments it
brings together. And throughout, the sound somehow remains
undeniably Armenian.
"Yev O Phe" is elevated by Dabandjian's hypnotic arrangements and
his superb command of several different instruments, as well as
Koujakian's deeply soulful vocals. In fact, the most alluring
tracks on the album are those featuring this combination's
performances. Dabandjian's talents are on full display on the
album's fifth track, "Yar Ko Parag Boyin Mernem," which manages to
make a powerful emotional impact while retaining an understated
delicacy. Koujakian's masculine yet smooth vocals take center stage
on "Mardigi Yerke" and "Anoush Hayrenik," without overpowering the
songs. All in all, "Yev O Phe" represents a powerful fusion of
fervent rhythms and infectious melodies, rippled through with multi-
layered and multi-ethnic influences.
It is worth mentioning that Element is an accomplished live act.
There is an immediacy and improvisational aspect to the band's live
performances that lend themselves well to its particular adaptation
and re-imagination of the fusion genre. During a recent show at the
Ford Amphitheatre, Element's soulful performance enveloped the
audience and drew it inescapably into the music being performed on
stage. This captivating quality of Element's music is due in no
small part to the band's repertoire, at once intimately familiar and
distinctly different, allowing listeners to celebrate their own
cultural heritage while embracing a more universal perspective.
Element has already acquired a diverse and loyal fan base. But it is
too early to declare whether the band has brought Armenian folk
music back into our collective consciousness or successfully bridged
geographic, linguistic, and multi-cultural divides. What is
undeniable, however, is that Element has cast aside deep-seated
cultural constraints and adopted a more progressive musical register.
In the current era of globalization, music has become the
indispensable mode of communication and integration, a modern and
universal vernacular. Fusion provides opportunities to use varying
elements of this vernacular to stretch creative boundaries and to
spread indigenous music to wider audiences, a crucial stage in the
evolution of the world music scene and of Armenian music itself.
Element's rendering of folk music is nothing more than an extension
of this evolution, the adoption of a genuinely universal alphabet.
All Rights Reserved: Critics Forum, 2006
Sam Ekizian has been involved with the Armenian cultural and music
scene for over two decades and has helped introduce artists to West
Coast audiences.
You can reach him or any of the other contributors to Critics' Forum
at [email protected]. This and all other articles published
in this series are available online at www.criticsforum.org. To
sign up for a weekly electronic version of new articles, go to
www.criticsforum.org/join. Critics' Forum is a group created to
discuss issues relating to Armenian art and culture in the Diaspora.