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Tigran Hamasyan

In its ever-evolving state, jazz invites into its fold imaginative artists who freely and courageously pursue their own vision, not only built on tradition but also infused with their own personality and passion. In the case of pianist/keyboardist Tigran Hamasyan, potent jazz improvisation fuses with the rich folkloric music of his native Armenia. Turning 30 in 2017, he’s one of the most remarkable and distinctive jazz-meets-rock pianists of his generation. Tigran’s fresh sound is marked by an exploration of time signatures beyond 4/4 into 5/4 and 9/8, charged dynamics, the shifting between acoustic and electric modes of expression, all undergirded by an affinity to the grind of heavy metal.

A piano virtuoso with groove power, Tigran’s latest adventurous project is The Ancient Observer, his second solo album and his sophomore recording for Nonesuch. It’s a collection of new original compositions written over the course of the last three to four years—two of which are based on Armenian melodies. Some of the pieces are through composed and completely written out while others are through composed but with ample space for Tigran to improvise. Many include vocals layered into the mix. Like most of his recordings, the influences of the music are manifold, ranging from classical Baroque dance to J-Dilla-esque hip-hop grooves adapted to piano to a few tracks with pedals connected to a synthesizer—though the Armenian influence, which makes his music so uniquely outstanding, is prominent.

Conceptually, The Ancient Observer is a poignant album focusing on the art of observing. “It’s something that humans have been practicing for ages, sometimes even subliminally,” Tigran says. “It is especially interesting now in 2016. It’s the feeling of the ancient eternal and impermanent versus the present day eternal and the impermanent. The intertwining of this ancient with the modern world creates an existential feeling. This album is presenting the observation of the world we live in now and the weight of our history we carry on our shoulders, which is influencing us even if we don’t realize it. This album is the observation of influences and experiences I had.”

Born in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1987, Tigran grew up in a household that was full of music—his father more of a rock fan while his uncle was a huge jazz buff. When he was just a toddler, Tigran gravitated to tape players and the piano instead of regular childhood toys, and by the time he was 3, he was working his way through figuring out songs on piano by the Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Queen. His jazz tastes early on were informed by Miles Davis’s fusion period, and then around the age of 10 when his family moved to Yerevan, he came to discover the classic jazz songbook under the aegis of his teacher Vahag Hayrapetyan, who had studied with Barry Harris. “That’s when I understood what jazz is,” Tigran says. “He taught me about bebop. He was a great teacher.”

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Radio & Podcasts

Adam Holzman, John McLaughlin, Antoine Fafard and Brett Garsed

Read "Adam Holzman, John McLaughlin, Antoine Fafard and Brett Garsed" reviewed by Len Davis


The Big Picture from Adam Holzman and Brave New World, Black Light from John McLaughlin, CMD & The Nomads-Live, Antoine Fafard, Larry Coryell, Tom Coster and Steve Smith. Chris Minh Doky-Live, Allan Holdsworth, Tigran Hamasyan and Brett Garsed. Playlist Adam Holzman “Iron Curtain" from The Big Picture (Escapade) 00:00 John McLaughlin “Panditji" from Black Light6 (Abstract Logix) 08:25 Allan Holdsworth “The Fifth" from Blues For Tony (Moonjune) 16:45 CMD & The Nomads-Live “Spherical" from The Board Tapes (Red ...

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Album Review

Ben Wendel: All One

Read "All One" reviewed by Claudio Bonomi


Classe 1976, canadese di nascita, cresciuto a Los Angeles e attualmente residente a Brooklyn (New York), Ben Wendel è considerato un astro nascente del jazz contemporaneo da diversi anni. Sassofonista e compositore, oltre ad essere stato nel 2001 tra i fondatori dei Kneebody, si è costruito negli anni una solida reputazione di solista e leader firmando ben sette album che hanno suscitato l'attenzione di pubblico e critica. Questo All One non fa eccezione. È stato concepito in tempi ...

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Album Review

Ben Wendel: All One

Read "All One" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Saxophonist Ben Wendel came up with a unique approach for this album of duets. He plays with a different musician on each of these six tracks, but while his guests stick to their primary instruments, Wendel fills in the space around them with multiple saxophone and bassoon parts, electronic effects, and percussion. The most conventional results of this approach are heard in the two vocal tracks. Cecile McLorin Salvant's sensitive singing on “I Loves You Porgy" and Jose ...

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Play This!

Tigran Hamasyan: Shoger Jan (Live at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, 2010)

Read "Tigran Hamasyan: Shoger Jan (Live at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, 2010)" reviewed by Mike Jacobs


In 2010, Tigran Hamasyan may still have been on his way to becoming more of a known quantity but it's performances like this one that inevitably spread his reputation to larger audiences like wildfire. This 24-minute rendition of “Shoger Jan" was expanded to include spots from bassist Sam Miniae, Hamasyan and saxophonist Ben Wendel, but it ultimately shows the staggering virtuosity of the entire band--both as a unit and as individuals. ...

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Album Review

Tigran Hamasyan: Stand Art

Read "Stand Art" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Many jazz pianists start out by playing tunes from the standard pop and jazz repertoires before tackling their own compositions. Tigran Hamasyan has gone in the opposite direction. He has been recording original works and traditional Armenian songs since 2005. Now, on his eleventh album, he finally gets around to playing American standards. Hamasyan leads a trio here with Matt Brewer on bass and Justin Brown on drums, occasionally helped out by tenor saxophonists Mark Turner and Joshua ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Tigran Hamasysan, Hiromi, Morton Schanz, Otmar Ruiz and more

Read "Tigran Hamasysan, Hiromi, Morton Schanz, Otmar Ruiz and more" reviewed by Len Davis


Today's program features keyboard and piano players including Hiromi, Tigran Hamasyan, Morton Schhanz, Erik Escobar, Chick Corea, Jan Hammer and Santiago Bosch. Playlist Tigran Hamasysan “Levitation 21" from The Call Within (Nonesuch) 00:00 Hiromi's Sonic Bloom “Time Control or Controlled by Time" from Time Control (Telarc) 06:30 Morton Schanz “Martial Arts" from Godspeed (Edition) 13:23 Otmaro Ruiz-Jimmy Branly-Jimmy Haslip"Surreptitious Moves" from Elemental (Blue Canoe) 20:12 {Erik Escobar “Paradoxo" from Erik Escobar (Self Produced) 26:53 Third Rail"Highway 86" from ...

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Live Review

Gent Jazz 2021

Read "Gent Jazz 2021" reviewed by Martin Longley


Gent Jazz Bijloke, Gent Belgium July 12-18 2021 Last year, the Gent Jazz festival operated with a 400-person audience capacity, and presented a very successful 10-day season, albeit highlighting Belgian acts, and with no lumbering large-fee, big-ticket-sales American bands allowed. The 2021 edition still wasn't able to manifest as its customarily colossal self, but at least the maximum customer numbers were quadrupled on the previous year, and several artists arrived ...

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Music Industry

ECM Releases Four New Titles in September: Tigran Hamasyan, Giovanni Guidi, Andrew Cyrille and Jakob Bro

ECM Releases Four New Titles in September: Tigran Hamasyan, Giovanni Guidi, Andrew Cyrille and Jakob Bro

Source: ECM Records

RELEASE DATE: September 9 Tigran Hamasyan/Arve Henriksen/Eivind Aarset/Jan Bang: Atmosphères Tigran Hamasyan: piano; Arve Henriksen: trumpet; Eivind Aarset: guitar; Jan Bang: electronics and live sampling. This far-reaching double album, recorded and mixed in three days in Lugano, introduces a new quartet with Tigran Hamasyan, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang. The Norwegians had played in diverse configurations on ECM—Jan Bang on Eivind Aarset’s Dream Logic, for instance, and Bang and Aarset on Arve Henriksen’s Cartography— but with Hamasyan at ...

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Recording

Tigran Hamasyan's "Mockroot" Due Out On Nonesuch Records, Feb. 17

Tigran Hamasyan's "Mockroot" Due Out On Nonesuch Records, Feb. 17

Source: Stephanie Bauman

Nonesuch Records Releases Label Debut By Pianist Tigran Hamasyan, Mockroot, on February 17, 2015 US Tour Dates announced including stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Cambridge and New York “Tigran has found a way to keep improvisation fresh and lyrical. Other jazz musicians would be wise to take note.” —Guardian “There are many brilliant and perfectly finished young jazz pianists around, but Hamasyan stands out because he has something important and urgent to say.” —Daily Telegraph Nonesuch Records releases the label ...

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Recording

Tigran's "Shadow Theater" Slated For Us Release On 4/15!

Tigran's "Shadow Theater" Slated For Us Release On 4/15!

Source: Bret Sjerven

When Armenian born pianist, keyboardist and occasional singer Tigran saw a traditional Armenian shadow theater for the first time, he felt the power of ambiguity. The silhouetted figures have no faces, and they seem to be hiding multitudes of meaning; in that darkness, the viewer must place her own story. With Shadow Theater, due out April 15, 2014, Tigran picks up on that idea, offering a lush and energizing landscape that allows listeners to dive in — and explore their ...

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Music Industry

Pow!: Tigran Hamasyan, Wunderkind or Just Good?

Pow!: Tigran Hamasyan, Wunderkind or Just Good?

Source: Inverted Garden by Eric Benson

Tigran Hamasyan—Solo + Quintet Tuesday, February 8th at 7 Le Poisson Rouge When I started receiving emails from Search & Restore about the upcoming appearance of the Armenian piano whizkid Tigran, I thought it best to approach with extreme caution. Our society is obsessed with prodigies, but especially in jazz, words like “whizkid" often equate to “flame-out." Jazz wunderkinds don't suffer the typical case of too-much, too-soon—even star jazz musicians don't make enough to snort fortunes ...

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Music Industry

Gene Ess and Tigran Hamasyan - Recording and Dates

Gene Ess and Tigran Hamasyan - Recording and Dates

Source: All About Jazz

Guitarist Gene Ess and his quartet will be recording a new album in June, 2008. This new work will feature the 2006 Thelonious Monk Piano Competition 1st place winner Tigran Hamasyan on piano. Along with the recording dates, the quartet will perform the new material on June 12 at Cachaca and on June 17 at Drom NYC.

At twenty-one, pianist Tigran Hamasyan has already done much to launch his name into the world of emergent young lions. He has toured ...

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Performance / Tour

Winner of Monk Competition Tigran Hamasyan in concert at The Tribeca Performing Arts Center - November 20

Winner of Monk Competition Tigran Hamasyan in concert at The Tribeca Performing Arts Center - November 20

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

The Tribeca Performing Arts Center Borough of Manhattan Community College Presents: Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion - The Next Face In Jazz Presenting, In Concert, The Winner of The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition Tigran Hamasyan - November 20 at 7:00 PM Other concerts include finalists: Aaron Parks - November 27 and Gerald Clayton - December 18 The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute, proudly presents Jazz In Progress-Monk In ...

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Award / Grant

Armenia's Tigran Hamasyan Wins First Place in 2006 Thelonious Monk Internatioanl Jazz Piano Competition

Armenia's Tigran Hamasyan Wins First Place in 2006 Thelonious Monk Internatioanl Jazz Piano Competition

Source: All About Jazz

THELONIOUS MONK INSTITUTE OF JAZZ CELEBRATES 20th ANNIVERSARY MUSIC LEGENDS JOIN POLITICAL LEADERS FOR STAR-STUDDED GALA

STEVIE WONDER HONORED BY FORMER SECRETARIES OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT AND COLIN POWELL

Armenia's Tigran Hamasyan Wins First Place in 2006 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition

Washington, DC--The world's greatest jazz artists were on stage at The Kennedy Center last night to honor the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and its two decades of music education. Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron ...

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Concerts

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

All One

Edition Records
2023

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Stand Art

Nonesuch Records
2022

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Long Story Short

Blue Canoe Records
2021

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The Call Within

Nonesuch Records
2020

buy

For Gyumri

Nonesuch Records
2018

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Atmosphères

ECM Records
2016

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Checkered Past

From: Long Story Short
By Tigran Hamasyan

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