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ARMENIAN A CAPPELLA TO RING OUT AT RIC
Providence Journal
http://www.projo.com/music/content/wk-pop1 1_09-11-08_43BH3MF_v12.4cf629d.html
Sept 10 2008
RI
The female a cappella trio Zulal take the rural folk music of Armenia
and make it bewitching and transcendent; the tricky rhythms and subtly
bizarre (to American ears) structures go down easily when paired
with the women's honeyed voices. On their latest record, last year's
Notes To a Crane, the trio apply shimmering Western harmonies to old
folk songs from all corners of Armenia that reflect life, love and
happiness that are often subsumed by the painful history of the people.
>From the playful opener "Yaruhs Khorodig E (My Sweetheart is Cute! So
What If He's Short?)" to the lullaby "Kele Lao (Come, Let Us Go, My
Son)," the non-Armenian speaker won't know what they're singing, and
yet he or she will, which is kind of what music's all about, isn't it?
All three members of Zulal were born and raised in the United States,
and Teni Apelian says that "all of us have had fairly different
cultural experiences." But Armenian folk music "has always been part
of my life."
Zulal apply elements of pop and jazz harmony to their interpretations
of Armenian songs, but they work from songbooks and archival recordings
to find the real stuff. Luckily, Apelian says, there's plenty of
archival material to work from, and the Armenian folk tradition is
fairly good shape.
The Armenian a cappella tradition, on the other hand, isn't as
well known, Apelian says -- most of the best-known Armenian music
is instrumental. But singing a cappella, she says, establishes a
connection and an homage to the traditions of Armenian rural life --
"the village life from which these songs grew" -- to perform them with
just voices. "It's reminiscent of that simpler time. It was very much
a vocal tradition."
Apelian and her band mates, Yeraz Markarian and Anais Tekerian, have
varied backgrounds that include jazz a cappella, pop a cappella and
Slavic a cappella, and those influences get into Zulal's version
of Armenian music. "There are some harmonies that are sort of
Armenian-sounding, but I think we are building chords that are a
little bit more -- it's not something that you hear and think 'that
reminds me of a pop harmony,' but there is a difference there....
"Sometimes, the archival recordings that we listen to are really very
raw, and kind of unpleasant to listen to for an outside ear. But our
interpretation and our harmonies tend to be a bit more Western. It's
bridging two different worlds in that sense."
Apelian is a full-time mother; Markarian is a Ph.D. student in
psychology; Tekerian is a piano teacher. All three have children. Zulal
is an avocation for them, and they average about one show a month. They
spend their time off recording and unearthing and arranging new songs,
Apelian says, but they have also scored some high-profile gigs with
Cirque du Soleil ("I remember actively dreaming it and wanting it. It
was like a dream come true") and Les Mysteres des Voix Bulgares.
And in so doing, Apelian says she hopes that Zulal act as ambassadors
for Armenian history and culture. "We talk a lot in our show, and do
a lot of explaining of the meaning of our songs, and the symbols in
the life and the village life that we're trying to connect to."
The other two members of Zulal go to Armenia once a year. Apelian has
been back three times, but not for a year now; with two small children
and no direct family in the country, it's more difficult to manage.
But that culture and history is still a presence. "It's an extremely
strong culture because we're very small. When you're that small and you
have a history of that much struggle as a nation, [there's] a struggle
to keep your culture, and it creates a community among people."
There are strong pockets of Armenians in places such as Montreal and
California, and in New York, where the members of Zulal live.
"Overall, it's a culture that's devoted to itself because it's had
such a painful past. And people have grown up with stories of their
grandparents marching through the desert, starving to death. As a young
kid, you're told that this is what these people went through for you
to be who you are and to have this culture. And it affects you."
Zulal sing at Sapinsley Hall, on the campus of Rhode Island College,
400 Mount Pleasant Ave., Providence, Sunday at 3 p.m. at the top
of a bill of Armenian music that includes Harry Bedrossian, Leon
Janikian and Ken and Charles Kalajian. Tickets are $35 for adults,
$25 for those under 18. The show is a benefit for the Armenian Relief
Society to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Call (401) 354-8770 or
e-mail [email protected].
The Stone Soup Fest brings the folk music to the Pawtucket Arts
Festival, in Slater Memorial Park, on Saturday with Barnacle, Stingy
Brimm and Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, and Sunday with The Low Anthem,
Jim's Big Ego and Northern Lights. The shows start at 1 p.m. each day,
and it's free; go to www.pawtucketartsfestival.org for more.
And the mighty Stone Soup's season begins next weekend, with a
40th-anniversary performance by Joyce Katzberg, a Rhode Island
legend as a performer, an activist and just as a human being. Go to
www.stonesoupcoffeehouse.com for more.
Providence Journal
http://www.projo.com/music/content/wk-pop1 1_09-11-08_43BH3MF_v12.4cf629d.html
Sept 10 2008
RI
The female a cappella trio Zulal take the rural folk music of Armenia
and make it bewitching and transcendent; the tricky rhythms and subtly
bizarre (to American ears) structures go down easily when paired
with the women's honeyed voices. On their latest record, last year's
Notes To a Crane, the trio apply shimmering Western harmonies to old
folk songs from all corners of Armenia that reflect life, love and
happiness that are often subsumed by the painful history of the people.
>From the playful opener "Yaruhs Khorodig E (My Sweetheart is Cute! So
What If He's Short?)" to the lullaby "Kele Lao (Come, Let Us Go, My
Son)," the non-Armenian speaker won't know what they're singing, and
yet he or she will, which is kind of what music's all about, isn't it?
All three members of Zulal were born and raised in the United States,
and Teni Apelian says that "all of us have had fairly different
cultural experiences." But Armenian folk music "has always been part
of my life."
Zulal apply elements of pop and jazz harmony to their interpretations
of Armenian songs, but they work from songbooks and archival recordings
to find the real stuff. Luckily, Apelian says, there's plenty of
archival material to work from, and the Armenian folk tradition is
fairly good shape.
The Armenian a cappella tradition, on the other hand, isn't as
well known, Apelian says -- most of the best-known Armenian music
is instrumental. But singing a cappella, she says, establishes a
connection and an homage to the traditions of Armenian rural life --
"the village life from which these songs grew" -- to perform them with
just voices. "It's reminiscent of that simpler time. It was very much
a vocal tradition."
Apelian and her band mates, Yeraz Markarian and Anais Tekerian, have
varied backgrounds that include jazz a cappella, pop a cappella and
Slavic a cappella, and those influences get into Zulal's version
of Armenian music. "There are some harmonies that are sort of
Armenian-sounding, but I think we are building chords that are a
little bit more -- it's not something that you hear and think 'that
reminds me of a pop harmony,' but there is a difference there....
"Sometimes, the archival recordings that we listen to are really very
raw, and kind of unpleasant to listen to for an outside ear. But our
interpretation and our harmonies tend to be a bit more Western. It's
bridging two different worlds in that sense."
Apelian is a full-time mother; Markarian is a Ph.D. student in
psychology; Tekerian is a piano teacher. All three have children. Zulal
is an avocation for them, and they average about one show a month. They
spend their time off recording and unearthing and arranging new songs,
Apelian says, but they have also scored some high-profile gigs with
Cirque du Soleil ("I remember actively dreaming it and wanting it. It
was like a dream come true") and Les Mysteres des Voix Bulgares.
And in so doing, Apelian says she hopes that Zulal act as ambassadors
for Armenian history and culture. "We talk a lot in our show, and do
a lot of explaining of the meaning of our songs, and the symbols in
the life and the village life that we're trying to connect to."
The other two members of Zulal go to Armenia once a year. Apelian has
been back three times, but not for a year now; with two small children
and no direct family in the country, it's more difficult to manage.
But that culture and history is still a presence. "It's an extremely
strong culture because we're very small. When you're that small and you
have a history of that much struggle as a nation, [there's] a struggle
to keep your culture, and it creates a community among people."
There are strong pockets of Armenians in places such as Montreal and
California, and in New York, where the members of Zulal live.
"Overall, it's a culture that's devoted to itself because it's had
such a painful past. And people have grown up with stories of their
grandparents marching through the desert, starving to death. As a young
kid, you're told that this is what these people went through for you
to be who you are and to have this culture. And it affects you."
Zulal sing at Sapinsley Hall, on the campus of Rhode Island College,
400 Mount Pleasant Ave., Providence, Sunday at 3 p.m. at the top
of a bill of Armenian music that includes Harry Bedrossian, Leon
Janikian and Ken and Charles Kalajian. Tickets are $35 for adults,
$25 for those under 18. The show is a benefit for the Armenian Relief
Society to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Call (401) 354-8770 or
e-mail [email protected].
The Stone Soup Fest brings the folk music to the Pawtucket Arts
Festival, in Slater Memorial Park, on Saturday with Barnacle, Stingy
Brimm and Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, and Sunday with The Low Anthem,
Jim's Big Ego and Northern Lights. The shows start at 1 p.m. each day,
and it's free; go to www.pawtucketartsfestival.org for more.
And the mighty Stone Soup's season begins next weekend, with a
40th-anniversary performance by Joyce Katzberg, a Rhode Island
legend as a performer, an activist and just as a human being. Go to
www.stonesoupcoffeehouse.com for more.