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Oxford Mail, UK
May 8, 2014 Thursday
May marvel from Armenian wonder
by Tim Hughes
Tim Hughes conquers May Day sleep deprivation and basks in the musical
embrace of one of the world's best jazz pianists
Tigran North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford
Tigran Hamasyan is not much of a talker. The virtuoso pianist lets his
instrument speak for him- and what a story it tells.
Hunched over the keyboard, the wild-eyed Armenian seems oblivious to
the audience sat in rapt attention behind him. He is clearly elsewhere
- and as he teases each note, riff and run from his piano he seems
entirely at one with it.
It's hard to categorize Tigran's music. Straddling the worlds of
classical, ethnic Armenian, modern jazz, dance and bass-rich
electronica, it stands to divide and alienate devotees of each genre
as much as unify. But, to those of an open mind, his sweeping range
and mischievous disregard for boundaries make this intense 27-year-old
an irresistible artist - and one of the world's greatest jazz
pianists.
His performance to a small-ish but respectful audience at the North
Wall Arts Centre on Thursday was, by turns, uplifting, ethereal and
challenging. That haunting, spacy quality was magnified among the true
Oxfordians in the crowd, by the fact we were sitting here on May Day
evening - after a spectacularly early morning, surplus of ale and
Morris dancing, and a criminal lack of slumber. Post-modern jazz and
sleep deprivation, I discovered, make good bedfellows, however, and I
was drawn into Tigran's spiral of lilting eastern scales, looped
electronics and improvisation - backed by just an electric guitar and
drums - captivated as the music unfurled like a blossoming rose,
before violently scattering its petals in a spiky, discordant judder.
Tigran calls his music "Armenian anti-experimental punk jazz", but
that raises as many questions as it answers and comes no closer to
describing its range. With his new album Shadow Theater (he favours
the US spelling, having honed his craft in the States), his
iconoclastic anti-classical side comes to the fore, in the shape of
something approximating pop or rock as much as jazz. His recent
compositions, meanwhile, cross completely into dance territory, with
cool, looped beats that would go down with drum and bass fans.
The rapturous applause and the enthusiasm with which the trio were
enticed back on stage for an encore was evidence of the power of this
enigmatic composer and of our delight in a magical mystery musical
journey. I can't think of a better way to bring in the May.
From: Baghdasarian
May 8, 2014 Thursday
May marvel from Armenian wonder
by Tim Hughes
Tim Hughes conquers May Day sleep deprivation and basks in the musical
embrace of one of the world's best jazz pianists
Tigran North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford
Tigran Hamasyan is not much of a talker. The virtuoso pianist lets his
instrument speak for him- and what a story it tells.
Hunched over the keyboard, the wild-eyed Armenian seems oblivious to
the audience sat in rapt attention behind him. He is clearly elsewhere
- and as he teases each note, riff and run from his piano he seems
entirely at one with it.
It's hard to categorize Tigran's music. Straddling the worlds of
classical, ethnic Armenian, modern jazz, dance and bass-rich
electronica, it stands to divide and alienate devotees of each genre
as much as unify. But, to those of an open mind, his sweeping range
and mischievous disregard for boundaries make this intense 27-year-old
an irresistible artist - and one of the world's greatest jazz
pianists.
His performance to a small-ish but respectful audience at the North
Wall Arts Centre on Thursday was, by turns, uplifting, ethereal and
challenging. That haunting, spacy quality was magnified among the true
Oxfordians in the crowd, by the fact we were sitting here on May Day
evening - after a spectacularly early morning, surplus of ale and
Morris dancing, and a criminal lack of slumber. Post-modern jazz and
sleep deprivation, I discovered, make good bedfellows, however, and I
was drawn into Tigran's spiral of lilting eastern scales, looped
electronics and improvisation - backed by just an electric guitar and
drums - captivated as the music unfurled like a blossoming rose,
before violently scattering its petals in a spiky, discordant judder.
Tigran calls his music "Armenian anti-experimental punk jazz", but
that raises as many questions as it answers and comes no closer to
describing its range. With his new album Shadow Theater (he favours
the US spelling, having honed his craft in the States), his
iconoclastic anti-classical side comes to the fore, in the shape of
something approximating pop or rock as much as jazz. His recent
compositions, meanwhile, cross completely into dance territory, with
cool, looped beats that would go down with drum and bass fans.
The rapturous applause and the enthusiasm with which the trio were
enticed back on stage for an encore was evidence of the power of this
enigmatic composer and of our delight in a magical mystery musical
journey. I can't think of a better way to bring in the May.
From: Baghdasarian