The 3 Armenians

[Azat]

Friday, August 30, 2002, 8 PM

 

At the FORD Amphitheatre

2580 Cahuenga Blvd, East

Hollywood, CA 90068

 

THREE ARMENIANS UNDER THE STARS

A concert for the rest of us

 

By Ishkhan Jinbashian

 

Any project called “The Three Armenians” might sound vague, unimaginative or just funny -- unless those three Armenians happen to be some of the most accomplished singers the new Armenian generation has to offer, appearing at a major Los Angeles venue along with a master folk chanteuse and a 24-piece orchestra.

 

Which is what The Three Armenians concert is about, happening at Hollywood’s landmark John Anson Ford Ampitheatre on August 30.

 

The brainchild of the Armenian Arts organization’s Stepan Partamian, the event will be a celebration of world-class Armenian music, featuring novel interpretations of folk, minstrel, estradayin and other contemporary songs. The title’s three Armenians are Gagik Badalyan, Armen Movsisyan and Hovhannes Shahbazian, all classically trained young tenors, whose work already includes a wealth of solo recordings and ensemble performances. The young artists will be accompanied by a renowned guest folk singer, the inimitable Parik Nazarian.

 

Since the early 1980s, Nazarian garnered critical acclaim and an international following through the folk and minstrel troupe she founded, the Gorani Ensemble, as well as solo arena performances and her recent recording. By the mid-80s, the Gorani Ensemble helped make traditional Armenian music a household genre through performances at the annual Los Angeles City Festivals, UCLA, the Hollywood Bowl and on local alternative radio.

 

Nazarian’s post-Gorani work includes an appearance at 1999’s Uniquely Armenian concert at the Alex Theatre, as well as a haunting performance at the “Hallelujah Night” of the Hollywood Bowl’s 2000 World Music Festival, accompanied by Winds of Passion. The same year, Nazarian released her much-awaited album of traditional and troubadour songs, The Cycle of Life (Garni).

 

At their Ford Ampitheatre performance, the Three Armenians and Nazarian will be supported by an orchestra that comprises string, brass and Armenian traditional sections, as well as members of the experimental jazz band Nartex. The evening’s musical director is Nartex’s own Roma Konyan, a composer and pianist whose work has given Armenian musical motifs a lively spin through jazz.

Established in 2000, the non-profit Armenian Arts is dedicated to advocating original Armenian talent in and beyond Los Angeles. Since its very inception, the organization has earned a reputation for presenting high-quality musical events that both promote extraordinary artists and help Armenian art receive international exposure.

 

THE NEW FACE OF ESTRADAYIN

 

Think of estradayin as Armenia’s own version of lounge music. But whereas the Western brand of lounge is just another brilliant pulse in the pantheon of pop, now forgotten, now trendy, it is taken extremely seriously in Armenia.

 

Ever since the 1960s, estradayin continued to grow in leaps and bounds, evolving into a singularly sophisticated definition of exuberant pop. This was Armenia’s grass-roots answer to modernism, while ample state funding secured the flowering of estradayin’s world-class composers, singers and orchestras.

 

The halcyon days of the genre became a sad blur in the 1990s, when war, economic hardship and the growing pains of independent Armenia made for a reconfiguration of the musical scene: the essentially romantic, hence ideologically neutral, estradayin was discreetly pushed to the background, while more socially urgent forces like heavy metal, fusion jazz and a resurgent patriotic repertoire came to the fore.

 

Still, hard times or not, estradayin proved to be as tenacious as folk music itself, even if now it had to share the stage and airwaves with a slew of new directions in pop.

 

Enter Gagik Badalyan, a native of Armenia now living in Los Angeles, whose work registers as a smooth revival of the estradayin idiom. Siro Yerk (Love Song), his 1999 CD (Garni), is a magical mystery tour of Armenian romance, tinged with some street-wise elements that make the case for continued estradayin evolution. The album is also punctuated with a number of fresh takes on folk songs, buttressed by traditional instruments, owing, after all, to Badalyan’s classical training.

 

Born in Yerevan, Badalyan studied voice at the prestigious Komitas Conservatory. Before moving to the US in 1999, he earned several awards and toured, as a soloist with various national ensembles, throughout the Middle East, Europe and America.

 

Since settling in Los Angeles, Badalyan has been busy concertizing and recording. His solo and group performances have included an appearance at 2001’s groundbreaking annual Nor Yerk event, an Armenian Arts initiative dedicated to promoting original Armenian compositions and performances. The young artist also guest-sang on duduk master Yeghish Manoukian’s 2001 collaborative album, Echo of the Mountains (American Recording Productions).

 

Badalyan followed the release of Siro Yerk with Fantastic Dream, in 2001 (Peko Records). A natural outgrowth of his previous material, the CD offers a collection of estradayin and traditional songs with a noteworthy distinction: a jazz slant.

 

Badalyan is currently working on a third album, planned to be released before the end of 2002.

 

THE TROUBADOUR’S WAY

 

It is no wonder that Armen Movsisyan’s 1999 album is dedicated to Sayat Nova, the 18h century troubadour who forever changed the face of Armenian music.

 

Brimming with a beat-driven sound that never veers into kitsch, Movsisyan’s first CD release, entitled Sayat Novayin (Parseghian Records), is both a statement of musical allegiance and a wink of personal gratitude to the great minstrel.

 

Born in Yerevan, Movsisyan was steeped in the troubadour tradition from the get-go. Growing up in Armenia in the 1980s and 90s, the young artist was influenced in no small measure by the country’s spirited revival of traditional music.

 

While grappling with frightful socio-economic adversity in the wake of a protracted war and the 1988 Spitak earthquake, Armenia was increasingly seeking wisdom and comfort in its centuries-old artforms. The newly independent nation was going back to its roots, rediscovering itself precisely as it teetered at the brink. Musically speaking, the movement worked, as a whole new generation of highly trained musicians owned up to the legacy of folklore and went on to energetically reshape it in its own image.

 

After studying voice at Yerevan’s Komitas Conservatory, Movsisyan joined the Sayat Nova Minstrel Ensemble, with which he toured extensively throughout Europe. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1998, he has continued expanding his artistic horizon, through an unbroken string of performances and recordings. Movsisyan appeared in several concerts given by the Glendale-based Lark Conservatory, and worked with renowned composer and conductor Armen Mantagounian. He also performed at 2001’s Nor Yerk concert and is currently working on material for a second CD.

Endowed with a velvety voice that exudes a maturity far beyond his young age, Movsisyan on his Sayat Novayin CD interprets traditional, minstrel and estradayin songs with a depth of passion all his own. The album’s contemporary mien, helped along by entrancing keyboard arrangements, a well-balanced beat and a healthy dose of traditional instruments, easily justifies the title dedication.

 

POWER IT UP

 

Hovhannes Shahbazian’s soaring tenor is often compared to the voice of estradayin great Roubik Matevossian.

 

The twentysomething Shahbazian, like his peers Gagik Badalyan and Armen Movsisyan, belongs to a new breed of classically trained chanteurs who are all but reinventing Armenian traditional, minstrel and estradayin music. The modus operandi of these young artists is about honoring the source while recalibrating it within a fresh, contemporary context.

 

Shahbazian gets his jollies from using traditional instruments for his material, and yet he’s also quite at home mating the lot to complex keyboard arrangements, often roused further to the beat of a drum set. Shahbazian’s 1999 album, Garounnere Im Gavardven (Parseghian Records), demonstrates the point of such stylistic crossovering, as the CD weaves convincing wholeness out of the twin guilty pleasures of modern pop and unabashedly plaintive traditional music. Garounnere Im Gavardven includes interpretations of folk songs, as well as works by various troubadours and estradayin artists.

 

Born in Yerevan, Shahbazian honed his voice at the Komitas Conservatory. His singing career was launched through constant touring across Europe, as he performed with various traditional music ensembles based in the Armenian capital.

 

Shahbazian moved to Los Angeles in 1998, when a new chapter of performances, as well as recordings, awaited him. Aside from his Garounnere Im Gavardven release, the artist appeared at the Nor Yerk event and collaborated on Yeghish Manoukian’s Echo of the Mountains CD. Shahbazian is currently working on a new solo album.

 

 

 

http://www.the3armenians.com/

[MosJan]

iskapes es trrerq@ hoyakap ashxatanq en anum !!!

 

vstahetsnum em vor anmorranali yereko e linelu.

[Azat]

Movses, I just checked and there are still many tickets available. It would be very sad if the Armenian community in SoCal cannot support the Armenian arts and have a sell out concert in LA for these talented 3 young men.

[MosJan]

Azat jan LAV klini havata - !!!

chnayats vor chem karroranalu nerka linel -