Tweet
The Oxford Times, UK
May 2 2014
Tigran: Armenia's jazz virtuoso returns to Oxford
11:30am Thursday 1st May 2014 in Music By Tim Hughes, Music Editor
Tim Hughes talks to Tigran Hamasyan, a pianist with a haunting, inspiring sound
Dreamlike, mesmerising and emotional, Tigran Hamasyan is a one-man
musical revolution. Fusing the traditional music of his native Armenia
with cool jazz and improvised avant garde forms, this 27-year-old
piano virtuoso is a hypnotic musician with a style which is all his
own.
It's a haunting, inspiring sound which is practically impossible to
define; even for him. "It is Armenian anti-experimental punk jazz," he
ventures. "It's improvised music and 21st-century composition," he
goes on, before admitting that it's better just to listen.
"The process of creation is totally abstract and during this process I
have nothing to do with the world outside of music. Everything is
music and the language is musical language. That's why music will
never be explained by words.
"I don't ever think about what style of music I am writing because the
styles can change, but the contact is one. The same melody and harmony
can be arranged in the style of heavy metal, contemporary classical,
or modern jazz."
The pianist is talking from Monten-egro, the latest stop on a European
tour which tonight reaches Oxford. The tour comes hot on the heels of
the release of his rapturously-received album Shadow Theater. Part of
its beauty is its unpred-ictability, with electronic loops layered
over traditional material, which twists and turns -- the listener never
knowing where it will go next. It references the music of Madlib,
Sigur Rós and Steve Reich in its inventiveness, and has won the
admiration of keyboard giants Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Brad
Mehl-dau, as well as our own Jools Holland, Gilles Peterson and Jamie
Cullum, on whose shows he has appeared.
The show will see him return to the North Wall where he last performed
two years ago. And he is looking forward to coming back. "I like the
venue, and the atmosphere there," he says.
Tigran's story began in Armenia's second city, Gyumri, in a home
which, he says, "was saturated with music".
"Perhaps, it's because there was a lot of music at home. My
grandparents were mostly listening to classical music, my father was a
great fan of classic rock, and my uncle loved jazz. I listened to
music and fell under its spell."
He says that from the age of two he had displayed an aptitude for
music with the family tape recorder and piano soon becoming his
favourite toys.
A year later. the boy, nicknamed Ashough, or "Troubadour" by his
mother, had a repertoire of songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep
Purple, The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Queen, accompanying himself
on the piano.
"In Armenia there is this good tradition that children have to go to
music school and learn how to play a musical instrument," he says. "So
there are a lot of families in Armenia that have a piano at home, even
if nobody there is a professional musician. Thanks to this tradition,
and thanks to my family, I grew up with two pianos -- one at my
grandma's place and one at my parents'.
"I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock music and some 1970s
Herbie Hancock from the age of three. And at the age of four I was
playing and singing Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath songs
which I picked up by ear."
By the time he reached seven, he had discovered jazz and began
improvising on piano.
"I always loved improvising and creating compositions and songs even
before I knew how to read notes or even knew what improvising and
writing was," he says. "So creating music of my own came to me very
naturally."
The family moved to America, Tigran taking up a place at the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Building on his love
of jazz, he released two albums exploring what he describes as the
intersections of jazz, classical and rock with sounds from the
Caucasus.
Two years later he was off to the Big Apple, where he released his
third album, featuring self-penned compos-itions and arrangements of
Armenian folk songs. That was followed by his groundbreaking A Fable
and now Shadow Theater, possibly also his most accessible album to
date.
"Shadow Theater is more involved and deeper compositionally," he says.
"It's almost like a pop record. I spent the most time I have ever
spent on a recording. The whole process was long, with rehearsals,
week of recording (which is luxury for a 'jazz' record), three days of
overdubs, two weeks of mixing, and one week working with the amazing
producer David Kilejian on electronic treatments.
"It was really great to have all this time to go very deep into one
project and feel a little bit of what it feels like to record a pop
album."
He says: "I am thankful to God and to all the people I have met on my
path who have helped me to try to stay true to myself.
"Recently I was at [Armenian folk musician] Karo Chalikyan's place,
just outside of Yerevan, and during one of those long conversations,
he said something to me that made everything so clear. He said 'when
you are playing or singing, don't ever forget that you are always
singing in front of God'.
"This got me thinking of the foundations -- what is it that I love
about music and what is true in my music that comes out naturally and
has feeling, instead of just playing something that is cool or
trendy."
Last year, Tigran returned to Yerevan, though he admits he found his
homeland a changed place.
"There are positive and negative developments in Armenia," he says.
"Obviously, thanks to Western propaganda, there are a lot of values
and traditions that are slowly disappearing. "There is a lot of
sellout, artificial, godless and undignified Western culture and a
mentality that is slowly but surely influencing and brainwashing
Armenian youth. In other words, people are separating from themselves
and their inner worlds and connection to nature and values that should
be more important than a brand new Mercedes or $500 tickets to a
Rihanna show.
"The positive aspect is that, with all these influences, there is
still so much soul and unexplainable beauty and human love in Armenia.
When you land there you can feel it right away. As we say in Armenian:
'Hamberutyune Kyanq e - Patience is life'."
Tigran
North Wall, Summertown, Oxford
Tonight (Thurs)
Tickets: from thenorthwall.org
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/music/11185936.Armenia_s_one_man_musical_revolution/
May 2 2014
Tigran: Armenia's jazz virtuoso returns to Oxford
11:30am Thursday 1st May 2014 in Music By Tim Hughes, Music Editor
Tim Hughes talks to Tigran Hamasyan, a pianist with a haunting, inspiring sound
Dreamlike, mesmerising and emotional, Tigran Hamasyan is a one-man
musical revolution. Fusing the traditional music of his native Armenia
with cool jazz and improvised avant garde forms, this 27-year-old
piano virtuoso is a hypnotic musician with a style which is all his
own.
It's a haunting, inspiring sound which is practically impossible to
define; even for him. "It is Armenian anti-experimental punk jazz," he
ventures. "It's improvised music and 21st-century composition," he
goes on, before admitting that it's better just to listen.
"The process of creation is totally abstract and during this process I
have nothing to do with the world outside of music. Everything is
music and the language is musical language. That's why music will
never be explained by words.
"I don't ever think about what style of music I am writing because the
styles can change, but the contact is one. The same melody and harmony
can be arranged in the style of heavy metal, contemporary classical,
or modern jazz."
The pianist is talking from Monten-egro, the latest stop on a European
tour which tonight reaches Oxford. The tour comes hot on the heels of
the release of his rapturously-received album Shadow Theater. Part of
its beauty is its unpred-ictability, with electronic loops layered
over traditional material, which twists and turns -- the listener never
knowing where it will go next. It references the music of Madlib,
Sigur Rós and Steve Reich in its inventiveness, and has won the
admiration of keyboard giants Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Brad
Mehl-dau, as well as our own Jools Holland, Gilles Peterson and Jamie
Cullum, on whose shows he has appeared.
The show will see him return to the North Wall where he last performed
two years ago. And he is looking forward to coming back. "I like the
venue, and the atmosphere there," he says.
Tigran's story began in Armenia's second city, Gyumri, in a home
which, he says, "was saturated with music".
"Perhaps, it's because there was a lot of music at home. My
grandparents were mostly listening to classical music, my father was a
great fan of classic rock, and my uncle loved jazz. I listened to
music and fell under its spell."
He says that from the age of two he had displayed an aptitude for
music with the family tape recorder and piano soon becoming his
favourite toys.
A year later. the boy, nicknamed Ashough, or "Troubadour" by his
mother, had a repertoire of songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep
Purple, The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Queen, accompanying himself
on the piano.
"In Armenia there is this good tradition that children have to go to
music school and learn how to play a musical instrument," he says. "So
there are a lot of families in Armenia that have a piano at home, even
if nobody there is a professional musician. Thanks to this tradition,
and thanks to my family, I grew up with two pianos -- one at my
grandma's place and one at my parents'.
"I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock music and some 1970s
Herbie Hancock from the age of three. And at the age of four I was
playing and singing Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath songs
which I picked up by ear."
By the time he reached seven, he had discovered jazz and began
improvising on piano.
"I always loved improvising and creating compositions and songs even
before I knew how to read notes or even knew what improvising and
writing was," he says. "So creating music of my own came to me very
naturally."
The family moved to America, Tigran taking up a place at the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Building on his love
of jazz, he released two albums exploring what he describes as the
intersections of jazz, classical and rock with sounds from the
Caucasus.
Two years later he was off to the Big Apple, where he released his
third album, featuring self-penned compos-itions and arrangements of
Armenian folk songs. That was followed by his groundbreaking A Fable
and now Shadow Theater, possibly also his most accessible album to
date.
"Shadow Theater is more involved and deeper compositionally," he says.
"It's almost like a pop record. I spent the most time I have ever
spent on a recording. The whole process was long, with rehearsals,
week of recording (which is luxury for a 'jazz' record), three days of
overdubs, two weeks of mixing, and one week working with the amazing
producer David Kilejian on electronic treatments.
"It was really great to have all this time to go very deep into one
project and feel a little bit of what it feels like to record a pop
album."
He says: "I am thankful to God and to all the people I have met on my
path who have helped me to try to stay true to myself.
"Recently I was at [Armenian folk musician] Karo Chalikyan's place,
just outside of Yerevan, and during one of those long conversations,
he said something to me that made everything so clear. He said 'when
you are playing or singing, don't ever forget that you are always
singing in front of God'.
"This got me thinking of the foundations -- what is it that I love
about music and what is true in my music that comes out naturally and
has feeling, instead of just playing something that is cool or
trendy."
Last year, Tigran returned to Yerevan, though he admits he found his
homeland a changed place.
"There are positive and negative developments in Armenia," he says.
"Obviously, thanks to Western propaganda, there are a lot of values
and traditions that are slowly disappearing. "There is a lot of
sellout, artificial, godless and undignified Western culture and a
mentality that is slowly but surely influencing and brainwashing
Armenian youth. In other words, people are separating from themselves
and their inner worlds and connection to nature and values that should
be more important than a brand new Mercedes or $500 tickets to a
Rihanna show.
"The positive aspect is that, with all these influences, there is
still so much soul and unexplainable beauty and human love in Armenia.
When you land there you can feel it right away. As we say in Armenian:
'Hamberutyune Kyanq e - Patience is life'."
Tigran
North Wall, Summertown, Oxford
Tonight (Thurs)
Tickets: from thenorthwall.org
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/music/11185936.Armenia_s_one_man_musical_revolution/