Home » Jazz Musicians » Armen Donelian

Armen Donelian

For forty years, pianist/composer and Fulbright Scholar ARMEN DONELIAN has distinguished himself in 23 countries as a performer, recording artist, master class leader, and with his published writings. Donelian’s music is a distinctive blend of influences including his Armenian origin, his Classical technique, and his association with some of the biggest names in Jazz. And, according to Metronom, he achieves this fusion “in such a natural way that one can tell it’s a master’s work.”

As a child, Armen absorbed the sound of Armenian, Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern music at social gatherings and from records his father played at home.

During his youth, Armen trained for 12 years as a concert pianist at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in White Plains, NY with the late Michael Pollon. His studies included regular solo piano recitals and several concertos with local symphonies, and culminated in a 1968 graduation recital including works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and Prokofiev.

At about 15, Donelian joined a Jazz group led by guitarist Arthur Ryerson, Sr., and things were never quite the same after that. Captivated by the Jazz feeling, he began listening to Jazz masters like Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

After graduating from Columbia University in 1972, Donelian apprenticed for two years with Richie Beirach, one of the strongest pianists in New York. He learned how to meld his Classical training with his instinct for Jazz improvisation and composition.

Armen Donelian broke into the Jazz world in 1975 with Mongo Santamaria’s vibrant Afro-Cuban Jazz octet. Tours and recordings ensued, including Sofrito that includes three Donelian compositions and was nominated for a 1976 Grammy Award as the Best Latin Jazz Album. In the following years, he mastered the Jazz arts through engagements and recordings with Sonny Rollins (1977-8), Chet Baker (1977 and 1983-5), Billy Harper (1979-83), Paquito D’Rivera (1984-5), Anne-Marie Moss (1979-84) and others.

During this period, Donelian also composed and led his own group, Essence, in New York area venues. Donelian’s album debut came in 1981 with the release of Stargazer (Atlas) in Japan, a trio LP with bassist Eddie Gomez and Billy Hart on drums that received critical praise from Swing Journal for its “wonderful tension” and Donelian’s “uncommon talent as a composer.” Sadly, it was not distributed or reviewed in the USA.

In 1984, Donelian embarked on serious composition studies with Harold Seletsky, a master composer in the tradition of Arnold Schoenberg. Several fugues and motets resulted, and these lessons also had a marked influence on Donelian’s Jazz writing.

Read more

Tags

2
Radio & Podcasts

Sharp Radway, Gerald Clayton and Armen Donelian

Read "Sharp Radway, Gerald Clayton and Armen Donelian" reviewed by Joe Dimino


We begin the 752nd Episode of Neon Jazz with pianist Armen Donelian with new music from his latest release Fresh Start. Next, we hear from his friend Billy Harper and a host of veteran artists with new material out in 2022. From the likes of Sam Kirmayer, David Nichtern, Sharp Radway and James Brown Gang. In between, we hear from legends Randy Weston, Joe Sullivan and Hubert Laws. Our final song on this hour comes from Gerald Clayton with music ...

5
Album Review

Armen Donelian: Sayat-Nova: Songs of my Ancestors

Read "Sayat-Nova: Songs of my Ancestors" reviewed by Gabriel Medina Arenas


The sound of his piano evokes treasured sounds from a small and hidden mountainous country full of cultural richness and history in the heart of Eurasia. On his thirteenth solo album, the New Yorker veteran musician Armen Donelian paid a homage to Armenia, the homeland of his forefathers. Donelian, a classically trained pianist who played and recorded with legends like Mongo Santamaria, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker and Paquito D' Rivera, titled his latest record Sayat-Nova: Songs ...

104
Interview

Armen Donelian: Consummate Musician

Read "Armen Donelian: Consummate Musician" reviewed by R.J. DeLuke


Consistency of excellence is an extraordinary thing in music--particularly improvised music, where taking chances, however satisfying, can be risky. The daredevil on the tightrope might amaze onlookers. But he also might fall.61 year-old pianist Armen Donelian, a New York City native who now lives in upstate New York but who has traveled the globe as a jazz artist and as Fulbright scholar, is one of those improvising musicians. He's played all kinds of music during his lifetime. He ...

218
Album Review

Armen Donelian: Leapfrog

Read "Leapfrog" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


While cohesion and individuality, by their very definitions, may seem to be at odds with one another, the music on Leapfrog reconciles these two opposing ideals without a problem. For his ninth date on the Sunnyside label, pianist Armen Donelian has together a program of strikingly modern originals that showcase the cutting edge talent and simpatico sensibilities of his band. The personnel in Donelian's quintet might, at the surface, seem like an intergenerational mishmash, but that couldn't ...

114
Album Review

Armen Donelian: Full Moon Music

Read "Full Moon Music" reviewed by Elliott Simon


The third chapter in pianist Armen Donelian's Grand Ideas trilogy, Full Moon Music, stands alone in its ability to allow the listener to bond with the artist on a most personal level. Consisting of fourteen freely improvised solo piano portraits, the program masterfully tip-toes, walks, and runs along the thinnest of lines separating jazz and classical performance. Donelian is intimately familiar with the subtle nuances of his gorgeously warm 19th Century reconditioned Steinway and it serves as the vehicle for ...

115
Album Review

Armen Donelian: Full Moon Music

Read "Full Moon Music" reviewed by Michael McCaw


Precious few listeners are aware of Armen Donelian. A tremendously talented pianist who has never had a major label signing nor has attached his name to a legend or star of some sort, Donelian has quietly created a body of work that at the very least is consistent, at best exhilarating. His latest release covers the same amount of ground.

Full Moon Music is the final installment in Donelian's Grand Ideas series. Volume 1 - Wave focused on ...

139
Album Review

Armen Donelian: Quartet Language

Read "Quartet Language" reviewed by Celeste Sunderland


Pianist Armen Donelian made the acquaintance of alto saxophonist Thomas Chapin in 1988. Ten years later, at the age of 40, Chapin died of leukemia. Rewind to two spring nights in 1992. At the New York jazz club Visiones, Chapin shares the stage with Donelian, bassist Calvin Hill, and drummer Jeff Williams. Five tracks of intricately composed, expansively improvised music were recorded that evening. The album, Quartet Language , illustrated with one of bassist Mario Pavone's notoriously abstract photos, sounds ...

Read more articles
3

Recording

Pianist-Composer Armen Donelian Debuts New Trio, With Jay Anderson & Dennis Mackrel, On 'Fresh Start,' Due April 1 From Sunnyside Records

Pianist-Composer Armen Donelian Debuts New Trio, With Jay Anderson & Dennis Mackrel, On 'Fresh Start,' Due April 1 From Sunnyside Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Pianist-composer Armen Donelian reemerges from the COVID-inspired shutdowns with a newly refined conception on both instrument and pen on Fresh Start, to be released April 1 on Sunnyside Records. The album is the recorded premiere of Donelian’s new trio featuring bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel. Sidelined like all musicians by the worldwide pandemic, Donelian was further removed from performing when a shoulder injury left him temporarily unable to play the piano. Ever resourceful, the 71-year-old simply wrote new ...

1

Recording

New CD From Armen Donelian Slated For 4/15!

New CD From Armen Donelian Slated For 4/15!

Source: Bret Sjerven

Pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator Armen Donelian has carved out an enviable career spanning four decades, including seminal stints with Jazzmen Sonny Rollins, Billy Harper, Chet Baker, and Mongo Santamaria. But two other streams – Classical and Middle Eastern music – have influenced Donelian’s artistic direction. His new double album Sayat-Nova: Songs Of My Ancestors, his tenth release for Sunnyside, due for release April 15, combines these divergent paths into a work of stunning cohesion and sonic beauty and further ...

1

Event

Armen Donelian To Appear In Pittsfield, Mass. Feb. 15 For 10x10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival

Armen Donelian To Appear In Pittsfield, Mass. Feb. 15 For 10x10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival

Source: Ed Bride Associates

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshires Jazz, Inc. today announced its participation in Pittsfield's second annual 10x10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival, with a special concert by the remarkable pianist and composer Armen Donelian. For the Feb. 15 concert at Baba Louie's Backroom, the Armen Donelian Trio explores the music of 10 American composers whose inspiring work spanned jazz' first century. From Jelly Roll Morton to Chick Corea, Art Tatum to Duke Ellington and others, the virtuoso pianist adds his unique interpretation to ...

44

Interview

Pianist Armen Donelian Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Pianist Armen Donelian Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz

61 year-old pianist Armen Donelian, a New York City native who now lives in upstate New York but who has traveled the globe as a jazz artist and as Fulbright scholar, has played all kinds of music during his lifetime. He studied classical music intensely and he allows other influences to seep in to his creativity. But he's attracted to jazz, leading his own groups of various sizes and playing with the likes of saxophonist Sonny Rollins, percussionist Mongo Santamaria ...

48

Book / Magazine

Armen Donelian's New Book, "Whole Notes: A Piano Masterclass," Just Published by Advance Music

Armen Donelian's New Book, "Whole Notes: A Piano Masterclass," Just Published by Advance Music

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Whole Notes: A Piano Masterclass, the third instructional book by veteran pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator Armen Donelian, has just been published by Advance Music. Written in a conversational tone, the book “offers practical guidance grounded on principles of music theory, rhythm, analysis and composition as well as physics, anatomy and holistic development," Donelian writes in the book's final chapter. Although “this is not the first attempt to examine these subjects in writing, nor will it be the last," he ...

38

Festival

Armen Donelian Trio Appearing at Pittsfield Jazz Festival on Friday, October 14

Armen Donelian Trio Appearing at Pittsfield Jazz Festival on Friday, October 14

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts


122

Festival

Tickets now on sale for Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, Oct. 7-20 Concerts Featuring Grace Kelly, Phil Woods, Armen Donelian

Tickets now on sale for Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, Oct. 7-20 Concerts Featuring Grace Kelly, Phil Woods, Armen Donelian

Source: Ed Bride Associates

Free events include annual jazz crawl, new jazz prodigy series PITTSFIELD, Mass.—BerkshiresJazz.org today announced that Grace Kelly, Phil Woods, Armen Donelian, Greg Caputo, and the BerkshiresJazz Youth Ensemble will be among the performers at the 2011 Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, October 7-20. Now in its seventh year, the festival comprises some two dozen concerts and events throughout downtown Pittsfield. In addition to headline concerts on Oct. 14-15, the festival, a highlight of the Berkshires' fall foliage season, includes the initiation of ...

151

Recording

Pianist/Composer Armen Donelian's New Sunnyside CD "Leapfrog" to be Released Sept. 13

Pianist/Composer Armen Donelian's New Sunnyside CD "Leapfrog" to be Released Sept. 13

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator Armen Donelian has carved out an enviable career spanning four decades, including seminal stints with Sonny Rollins, Billy Harper, Chet Baker, and Mongo Santamaria. His new album Leapfrog, his ninth release for Sunnyside, due for release September 13, should go a long way in rectifying his relatively unsung status as an improvising artist of the highest order. Working with an exceptional band comprised of Dutch tenor saxophonist Marc Mommaas, guitarist Mike Moreno, veteran bassist Dean ...

54

Performance / Tour

Armen Donelian/Marc Mommaas Duo at University of the Streets on April 13th

Armen Donelian/Marc Mommaas Duo at University of the Streets on April 13th

Source: Armen Donelian


153

Performance / Tour

Armen Donelian Trio Performing at Castle Street Cafe in Great Barrington This Friday, April 8

Armen Donelian Trio Performing at Castle Street Cafe in Great Barrington This Friday, April 8

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts


Armen Donelian is another of those great unsung jazz piano heroes who has lived in New York for a couple of decades. Downtown Music Gallery, 2003 (Bruce Gallanter) for Quartet Language CD (Playscape) by Armen Donelian

Pianist Armen Donelian is a veteran whose credentials have never been in doubt: he first appeared on record a quarter century ago and has recently led a string of solid discs. Mark Armen Donelian on your list of musicians to watch. All About Jazz, 2003 (Nils Jacobsen) for Quartet Language CD (Playscape) by Armen Donelian

On his recent Mystic Heights, he applies that same balance [as on Wave] between tension and release to a program of sensitive originals. Village Voice, 2002 (Gary Giddins) for Mystic Heights CD (Sunnyside) by Armen Donelian

Read more

Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Co-Director, Hudson Jazz Workshop (since 2007) New School Jazz Program (since 1986) William Paterson University (since 1993) Manhattan School of Music (1989-2000) Private (since 1964)

Clinic/Workshop Information

Berklee College, Colby College, Mankato University, Virgina Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, Paris Conservatory, Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Sibelius Academy, St. Petersburg Conservatory, Yerevan Conservatory, Graz University, Zurich Hochschule, Luzern Hochschule, Athens Conservatory, Corfu University, Bogazici University, Tel Aviv Conservatory (Shtricker), Vienna University, Vienna Conservatory, Klagenfurt University

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Fresh Start

Sunnyside Records
2022

buy

Sayat-Nova: Songs of...

Sunnyside Records
2014

buy

Leapfrog

Sunnyside Records
2011

buy

Oasis

Sunnyside Records
2008

buy

Full Moon Music

Sunnyside Records
2005

buy

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.