Armenia - Yerevan & the Diaspora

 

Photo credit: By Սէրուժ Ուրիշեան (Serouj Ourishian) - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51469965

We arrive in Yeravan, the capital city of Armenia in the shadow of Mount Ararat, although the peak where Noah's ark is said to have been stranded is actually across the border in Türkiye. 

First up we meet the Gurdjieff Ensemble, which was established here in 2008 by Lebanese born Armenian Levon Eskenian.  They named themselves after philosopher, mystic and folk music collector George Gurdjieff, who died in 1949 and covers much of the music he unearthed arranged to traditional instruments of the region, including of course the duduk.  Here is an introductory video to their 2015 album Komitas:

The Naregatsi Orchestra also traces its origins to 2008 as an off-spring of the Naregatsi Art Institute in Yeravan.  The 30-head ensemble also recites traditional material on traditional instruments, but also incorporate western classical pieces. Here is a piece from their 2022 album Nor Shunch called Eshkehmed: 

Duduk player Vardan Grigoryan was born in Yeravan in 1971.  He has been part of a number of ensembles.  In 2022 he released his first international solo album called In the Shadow of the Song.  Here is an emotional live rendition of the opening track My Heart Broke Through performed in the aftermath of the 2018 terror attack on the Christmas market in Strassbourg, France:

9 years ago composer and duduk player Sar Kamler was a musical illiterate and couldn't even read music.  Growing up in Yerevan he was always fascinated by the sounds of his homeland, but it was not until he emigrated to Toronto, Canada, that he picked up the duduk and found himself a mentor in Georgy Minasov.  His relatively late entry into music allowed him to take a fresh approach fusing the haunting sound of the duduk with other influences including western classical music and even funk as in the track below.  His debut album Butterfly: Colours of Armenian Duduk is listed as being released as 2027, but is already available, making it the first album from the future featured here!  He composed all the music on the album himself.  Here is a track from the album called Funky Sar:

And talking about Samler's mentor, duduk player Georgy Minasov (1933-2020) was actually brought up in Kazakhstan, but moved to Yerevan in 1983.  He graduated from Baku Music College and the Azerbaijani music form of Mugham influenced his style.  He not only performed and recorded, but taught a whole generation of duduk players and even invented a new duduk that enabled players to add an extra octave to their repertoire.  Here is a song from his 2022 compilation album Folk Songs called Qamancha:

I don't know much about singer Gevorg Margaryan, apart from the fact that he is based in Yerevan.  He describes himself as a folk singer, but he mixes his Armenian folk songs with electronic accompaniment and dance rhythms.  Hence fittingly the name of his 2021 album is Electrofolk, which is just what it says on the tin.  Here is a track from the album called Hoy Nargiz:

Finally we pick a couple of artists from the vast Armenian diaspora, who were born in exile.  First up is avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer Arto Tunçboyaciyan, who was born in Istanbul in 1957 and later emigrated to the USA.  He fronts his Armenian Navy Band and has collaborated with hundreds of other acts including Chet Baker and Joe Zawinul, as well as his elder brother Onno.  Throughout his career he stayed true to his Armenian roots though, but open to many other influences including Anatolian and Greek music and of course jazz.  

In 1996 his brother Onno tragically lost his life in a plane crash, the grief of which inspired Arto to write 2 albums, including the 2000 release Every Day is a New Life.  Here is a tune from the album called I Miss You Every Moment My Brother:

And here he is with his Armenian Navy Band with the song Here Is to You Ararat from their 2006 album How Much Is Yours:

The grandmother of singer Mariam Matossian fled the Armenian genocide in 1915 and settled in Vancouver, Canada.  Mariam herself grew up speaking Armenian at home and with the songs her grandmother had taught her.  In 1998 she was the first member of her family to set foot in Armenia again after her grandmother's escape.  She subsequently released 2 albums of Armenian folk songs and dedicated her life to helping impoverished street children in Yerevan.  Here is a song from her 2007 album In The Light called Yelar Sarov:

That's it from Armenia, next we are heading back into south-eastern Türkiye, if they let us in after I mentioned the 'genocide'.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

Armenia - The North

 Armenia has a long yet turbulent history.  First established as far back as 860 BC it has been occupied by various neighbouring powers over the centuries including the Ottoman, Persian and Russian empires.  Arguably the darkest period of its history was the Armenian Genocide during World War I, where large parts of the population where killed or displaced by Ottoman forces, an event that modern-day Türkiye denies happened.  Even in its current incarnation since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has been embroiled in conflict with its neighbour Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where there was a majority of ethnic Armenians.  With the support of the Armenian army the region briefly declared the de-facto independent state of Artsakh in 1991, but has been retaken by Azerbaijan in 2023, leading to the exodus of the Armenians living there.

The land borders to both Azerbaijan and Türkiye remain closed, but we'll ignore that fact for the purpose of this blog.  Despite all those struggles over literally millennia, Armenians have retained their own identity, with their own language, script, religion and culture, and because of the conflicts there is a large worldwide diaspora continuing to keep the traditions alive.

We start our virtual musical journey in the centre of the country in the village of Solak, where Armenia's most famous proponent of their national instrument the duduk, Djivan Gasparyan was born in 1928.  A duduk is a simple wooden oboe-like instrument, with a haunting sound.  Gasparyan played for the likes of Stalin and Nelson Mandela, collaborated with stars like Peter Gabriel, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ludovico Einaudi, the Kronos Quartet, Brian May, Annie Lennox... the list goes on.  He also composed film music, including the score for Gladiator and Blood Diamond.  He died in 2021 leaving behind a massive legacy, which I can't even begin to scratch the surface of.  Here's a tune called They Took My Love Away, which features on his 2013 album Moon Shines At Night: 

We have already met young Duduk player Arsen Petrosyan as part of the Turkish, Georgian and Armenian group A.G.A. Trio.  He was born and raised in the town of Charentsavan and is one of the up-and-coming stars on the scene, having completed a Masters degree in music at the Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan in 2016.  Here is a track from his 2021 solo album Hokin Janapar (My Soul's Journey) called I Will Die for the Wind of The Mountains with some spectacular mountain scenery in the shots.:

Jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan was born in the north-western city of Gyumri in 1987.  He now resides in the USA and his style is very much influenced by American Jazz as well as Armenian folk.  His 2018 EP For Gyumri is meant as an extension to his album An Ancient observer and meant as an homage to his home town. Here is a tune from the album called Rays of light:

That's it from the north of Armenia for the moment, next we are heading for the capital Yerevan.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual journey on my tripline map.