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Beauty of 'Sketch Book' draws attention to local pianist Ovsepian

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  • Beauty of 'Sketch Book' draws attention to local pianist Ovsepian

    Boston Globe, MA
    March 12 2004


    Beauty of 'Sketch Book' draws attention to local pianist Ovsepian
    By Bill Beuttler, Globe Correspondent, 3/12/2004

    NEWBURYPORT -- A few months ago, Brad Mehldau told jazzreview.com
    that there is a fellow pianist out of Boston who had made a beautiful
    record. "His name is Vardan Ovsepian," the Grammy-nominated artist
    said.

    The record is "Sketch Book," and Mehldau isn't the only established
    musician to become an admirer. Ovsepian, who will bring his quartet
    (bassist Joshua Davis, drummer Take Toriyama, and vocalist Monica
    Yngvesson) to the Regattabar on Wednesday for sets with guest
    classical cellist Agnieszka Dziubak, is drawing notice from many
    performers for the way he blends vocals with improvisation and
    classically influenced compositions.

    Saxophonist George Garzone, a member of Joe Lovano's Grammy-winning
    nonet and the long-lived local trio the Fringe, played a Regattabar
    gig with Ovsepian's quartet last year and may record with the group
    on a future disc. And guitarist Mick Goodrick recorded three tracks
    on "Sketch Book."

    "He's one of the most talented young musicians I've seen in a long,
    long time," Goodrick says.

    In his pieces, Ovsepian uses Yngvesson's voice in a unique way -- as
    a horn-like instrument. He writes specifically with her vocals in
    mind, and on "Sketch Book" her wordless soprano sings melodies in
    unison with Ovsepian's piano as Davis, Toriyama, and Ovsepian
    improvise and supply rhythmic backing. The resulting sound is cool
    and cerebral.

    At times, Yngvesson is vaguely reminiscent of Flora Purim on Chick
    Corea's classic "Light as a Feather," and Ovsepian's piano-playing
    reveals trace elements of some of his heroes: Mehldau, Keith Jarrett,
    and Lennie Tristano. Ovsepian, 28, a thin, soft-spoken native of
    Armenia, came to Boston in 1999 to begin a scholarship at Berklee
    College of Music. In his walk-up apartment that he shares with
    Yngvesson, Ovsepian says he first started thinking of writing for a
    vocalist after listening to the work of Brazilian singer-composer
    Luciana Souza. "At that time, everybody was saying, `You have to meet
    Monica Yngvesson,' " he says. She had come over from Sweden on a
    Berklee scholarship of her own. "So I started looking for her. And I
    found her."

    Ovsepian's latest batch of a dozen pieces was written for Dziubak's
    cello. The compositions are for a CD Ovsepian plans to record next
    month and release in the fall. Pieces from that project will make up
    the entirety of the Regattabar outing, Ovsepian says, and he,
    Yngvesson, and Dziubak got a jump-start rehearsing the new material
    in preparation for full-group practice sessions with Davis and
    Toriyama. The rehearsals generally take place at the private music
    school Musical Suite, a 10-minute walk from the couple's apartment.

    Ovsepian and Yngvesson have day jobs teaching at the school. They
    might consider moving to New York at some point, but for now, living
    in Newburyport makes sense for them. It may prove to be a strategic
    step, Ovsepian says, "like a cat leaning back before it leaps."

    The Vardan Ovsepian Quartet performs with special guest Agnieszka
    Dziubak at the Regattabar Wednesday. Sets at 8:30 and 10 p.m., $12;
    617-876-8742.
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