PRIZEWINNER BRINGS JAZZ MOVES TO TRIBECA: TIGRAN HAMASYAN

New York Times, NY
Nov 22 2006

Two months ago, when Tigran Hamasyan won first place at the Thelonious
Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, he confirmed several things
about the current state of jazz. First off, it’s in great shape, in
terms of global influence and youthful vigor: Mr. Hamasyan, who is
not yet 20, enjoys a comfortably casual relationship with the folk
music of his native Armenia. Second, it’s in not-so-great shape, in
terms of infrastructure: there’s little chance that Mr. Hamasyan’s
distinction could lead to a major-label contract, as it has for
winners of the Monk competition in the (ever receding) past.

Finally and most important, the music itself maintains a healthy remove
from these and other speculative concerns. Mr. Hamasyan unfurls no
banners with his playing, though it can often convey the jubilant
power of an anthem. His main interests are exploratory, especially
when it comes to rhythm. He situates his piano not at the forefront
of an ensemble but deep within it, so that the momentum he generates
is centrifugal.

Mr. Hamasyan, a student at the University of Southern California,
applied his powers of concentration to two distinct settings on Monday
night. He began the evening as the featured artist at a concert
affiliated with the Monk Institute at the TriBeCa Performing Arts
Center, with Francois Moutin on bass and Ari Hoenig on drums. A few
hours later, he turned up at Smalls, as a sideman in a quintet led
by Mr. Hoenig.

Naturally the concert, with its mix of traditional and original
material, provided the broadest view of Mr. Hamasyan’s potential. He
approached nearly every tune as an arc, beginning in contemplation
and building to a crashing fury. This was an intuitive style for Mr.

Moutin and Mr. Hoenig, who dove headlong into action, responding
instantly to Mr. Hamasyan’s turns of phrase.

On "These Houses," adapted from an Armenian folk song, and "World
Passion," the title track of Mr. Hamasyan’s new debut album (issued
by Nocturne, a Paris-based label), the trio worked expressively with
fluttering polyrhythm. Their sound evoked the recent acoustic efforts
of Chick Corea, whose percussive pianism Mr. Hamasyan intermittently
deployed in his improvisations, along with emphatic chordal stabs
and two-handed octave filigree.

The concert was bookended by standards – "Just Friends" and "What
Is This Thing Called Love?" – that Mr. Hamasyan had revised with
shuddering syncopations. The arrangements were essentially cubist,
disconcertingly fragmentary but still representative of their
sources. Less clever but equally engaging was a version of Monk’s "In
Walked Bud," set in a waltzlike 5/4 meter that elicited Mr. Hamasyan’s
most agile solo turn.

Perhaps by coincidence, Mr. Hoenig later applied the same floating
pulse to a ballad, "Tenderly," during his first set at Smalls. There
too, Mr. Hamasyan was fluid and self- assured. He convincingly
sight-read a couple of Mr. Hoenig’s tunes and generally settled into
the pace of the ensemble, which was less insistent than his own.

Then Mr. Hoenig ended the set by calling up Mr. Moutin (to replace his
regular bassist, Matt Penman), and lending Mr. Hamasyan the reins. And
together they played "The Rain Is Coming," another Armenian song,
with a bright and surging exuberance.

s/music/22tigr.html

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress