The Gazette (Montreal)
 Thursday


They Choose Their Own Adventures; Double bill pairs fearless artists
unbound by time, space or genre

by T'CHA DUNLEVY, The Gazette



"It's really important to know where your roots are," Tigran Hamasyan
said Tuesday morning. On the phone from a beach in Italy, where he was
vacationing with his wife, the fearless jazz pianist was talking about
his deep connection to his Armenian heritage, but also about what he
sees as an essential human value.

"I grew up in Armenia until I was 16," the 29-year-old continued. "I
wish that people were more interested in where they come from so they
can understand what to do in their lives. Except for your mother and
father, what else is in your genes that you might not know about
something that can influence you, that is your path, that you can
check out and know about? This is something very important for me."

Hamasyan continues to explore his genes and century-spanning musical
genealogy on the new album An Ancient Observer. He will perform
material from it on an intriguing double bill Saturday at the
sonically pristine Maison symphonique as part of the Montreal
International Jazz Festival.

He anchors an evening led off by Montreal saxophone monster Colin
Stetson, whose primal-meetsfuturistic one-man symphonies keep pushing
the limits of what you thought was possible with a woodwind on his
latest solo offering, All This I Do for Glory.

As a prelude to the gargantuan tête-à-tête, I touched base with both
men to get their thoughts on heritage, musical boundaries and creative
control.

Hamasyan has found himself in all kinds of situations since shaking up
the piano landscape by winning first prize at the Thelonious Monk
Institute of Jazz competition in 2006. He broke through with his
breathtaking 2011 Verve debut, A Fable, teamed up with
Armenian-American hard-rocker Serj Tankian of System of a Down on the
latter's 2013 side project, Jazz-iz Christ, and let loose in a group
setting on his own turbocharged 2015 album, Mockroot.

Influenced by everything from prog rock and heavy metal to classical
and the rich history of Armenian folk music, he sees musical divisions
as unnecessary distractions.

"I'm open to any style," Hamasyan said. "I don't limit myself to say I
only like jazz or classical. I like all kinds of music. I like to
dedicate myself to projects. I ask myself, 'This specific project I'm
doing, what is it?'"For me, the most important thing is to choose a
repertoire. For example, is it a trio record? Certain songs might need
something powerful, more of a thrash-rock sound rather than a jazz
kit. I have a lot of electronic sounds mixed with acoustic piano
sounds. The most important thing is the content of what you're
writing. ... (The connection) is the composition and the idea of
improvisation within these genres."

On first listen, the disparate sounds of An Ancient Observer seem most
informed by classical music, but nearly every song contains flourishes
of other styles, from the soulful vocal incantations and cascading
piano runs on The Cave of Rebirth to the jazzy mischief and beat-box
scatting of Nairian Odyssey and the palatecleansing interludes New
Baroque 1 and 2. Hamasyan brings it all together.

"I like to write music, then sit down and explore the ideology of it,
and make it into a story," he said, "which in this case is the
connection of time and the eternal. What's passing and what is
important in life - the idea of creation. Humans were made to create.
God created us so we can also create. So in other words, loving what
you do and knowing what you really want to do is very important."

Stetson also enjoys a good yarn.

While the thrilling sounds on All This I Do for Glory contain no
lyrics, the album and song titles (Like Wolves on the Fold, Between
Water and Wind) hint at a mythological subtext to which the performer
is not averse.

"I tend to use pretty large language and grandiose, sweeping (titles)
because I find it's necessary for those things to meet the music
halfway," Stetson said. "This record and the next I think of as a bit
of an origin story. It's the first of a two-part character study. The
first part is (about a man) who is part of this couple, who has this
unrequited dream of regaining his former glory or some semblance of
what he imagines that would be. It's like a life overrun by the
fantasies of ambition."

Stetson also used a narrative backdrop with his partner, violinist
Sarah Neufeld (who, in addition to her solo career, is known for her
work with Arcade Fire), on their collaborative 2015 album, Never Were
the Way She Was.

Here it's the launch pad for the saxophonist to delve into the
dramatic aural environments that have become his trademark: furious
whirlwinds of sound propelled by his circular breathing technique; use
of repetition and elaboration on a theme; driving percussive elements
consisting of his carefully miked fingers hitting the pads of his
instrument; and, when the feeling hits, him singing plaintively into
his saxophone while he plays.

"Purely from a mechanical standpoint, it's much more percussive in an
almost modern sense," Stetson said of the album. "It's drawing on
things like electronic music and dance music. ... In character, I
think there's this boastful ambition to it, with a strain of
self-aware doubt. I really wanted to imbue this one with fragility."

If you're looking to categorize what Stetson does, don't. Though
trained in classical and with some background in jazz improvisation,
the musician who has worked with Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed,
Bill Laswell and LCD Soundsystem - and just released an album with his
new heavy metal-inspired band Ex Eye - would rather not even entertain
the question.

But, in a generous mood, he indulges: "To me, it's everybody else's
job to talk about that," he said. "It's something I don't ever want to
take part in, because not only do I not see it in those terms, I don't
make music thinking about it. My perfect audience is one that has no
frame of reference ... not even knowing it's a sax being played.
They're hearing (my music) without any expectation."
tdunlevy@postmedia.com twitter.com/TChaDunlevy

AT A GLANCE Tigran Hamasyan and Colin Stetson perform Saturday, July 1
at 7 p.m. at the Maison symphonique as part of the Montreal
International Jazz Festival. Tickets cost $47.25 to $52.25, available
via montrealjazzfest.com !@COPYRIGHT=© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc. All
rights reserved.