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Armenian Pianist Tigran Hamasyan To Play In Oxford Tonight

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  • Armenian Pianist Tigran Hamasyan To Play In Oxford Tonight

    ARMENIAN PIANIST TIGRAN HAMASYAN TO PLAY IN OXFORD TONIGHT

    15:31 01.05.2014

    Dreamlike, mesmerizing 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, the Oxford Times writes.

    Tim Hughes of the Oxford Times has talked to Armenian pianist Tigran
    Hamasyan.

    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 Montenegro, 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'."

    http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/05/01/armenian-pianist-tigran-hamasyan-to-play-in-oxford-today/

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