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Armenian jazz refers to jazz music composed by Armenian musicians, sometimes combined with traditional Armenian elements.
The roots of Armenian jazz trace back to 1936, when composer and trumpeter Tsolak Vardazaryan formed Yerevan's first jazz band. Two years later, in 1938, composer Artemi Ayvazyan founded the Armenian State Jazz Orchestra, which quickly became one of the leading jazz orchestras of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Soviet Armenian authorities sent the orchestra to hold concerts for the Red Army. [1] The orchestra's first drummer, Robert Yolchyan, became an important artist of Soviet and Armenian jazz, developing his own style over time and continuing to play and give master-classes until his death in 2001.
Following World War II, a complete ban was imposed on jazz music until the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. Nikita Khruschev’s De-Stalinization policies lifted restrictions throughout the USSR. In 1954, Konstantin Orbelyan organized an Estrada quintet for Armenian Radio. Other jazz bands were founded in Nairi Cinema, Yerevan Park of Communars, and others.
The early 1960s, known as the Khrushchev Thaw, saw a decrease in censorship. However, jazz remained a topic of disagreement throughout the Soviet republics. In his 1963 Declaration on Music in Soviet Society, Khrushchev assured that there would be no bans on music, though he criticized certain kinds of jazz, referring to some as cacophony. While jazz was no longer banned, restrictions remained, especially in terms of access to Western jazz musicians and literature.
Internationally, prominent jazz musicians such as giants were drawn to the music of Soviet-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. Bill Evans introduced the music of Khachaturian to Miles Davis. Davis, in his autobiography, mentioned that "I had been listening to him and what intrigued me about him were all those different scales he used". [2] This influence of Armenian classical and folk music on jazz would continue to evolve in the decades that followed.
During this period, numerous jazz bands and ensembles began to emerge. In 1963, while still a student at Yerevan Brusov State University, jazz pianist Levon Malkhasyan founded the first small jazz band in Yerevan, the Levon Malkhasyan Trio, along with Armen Tutunjyan ("Chico") and Arthur Abrahamyan. In 1966, young composer Martin Vardazaryan founded the Estrada Orchestra, renamed in the 1970s as the Estrada Symphonic Orchestra under the direction of Melik Mavisakalyan and Yervand Yerznkyan. Then Stepan Shakaryan founded the jazz sextet Radio, and jazz trios were founded by David Azaryan and Artashes Kartalyan. Artists such as Datevik Hovanesian, often referred to as "The First Lady of Jazz of the Soviet Union", contributed to the integration of Armenian folk music and jazz into mainstream listening. [3]
In 1998, Malkhas become one of the initiators of the Yerevan International Jazz Festival.
In 2009 Garik Saribekyan founded the Nuance Jazz Band, an ethnic jazz sextet.
One of the most internationally recognized contemporary Armenian jazz musicians is Tigran Hamasyan, a pianist known for his fusion of Armenian folk music with jazz and other genres, such as progressive rock.
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Soviet composers.
The music of Armenia has its origins in the Armenian highlands, dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, and is a long-standing musical tradition that encompasses diverse secular and religious, or sacred, music. Folk music was notably collected and transcribed by Komitas Vardapet, a prominent composer and musicologist, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who is also considered the founder of the modern Armenian national school of music. Armenian music has been presented internationally by numerous artists, such as composers Aram Khachaturian, Alexander Arutiunian, Arno Babajanian, Haig Gudenian, and Karen Kavaleryan as well as by traditional performers such as duduk player Djivan Gasparyan.
Armenian rock describes a wide variety of forms of rock music made in Armenia or by artists of Armenian descent.
The culture of Armenia encompasses many elements that are based on the geography, literature, architecture, dance, and music of the Armenian people. Armenia is a majority Christian country in the Caucasus.
Alexander Grigori Arutiunian, was a Soviet and Armenian composer and pianist, widely known for his 1950 Trumpet Concerto. A professor at Yerevan State Conservatory, he was recognized with many awards for his work, including the Stalin Prize in 1949 and People's Artist of the USSR in 1970, as well as numerous honors from his homeland of Armenia.
Arto Tunchboyachyan is an Armenian American avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian descent. He fronts his own group called the Armenian Navy Band, and is also a member of the instrumental quartet Night Ark.
Armen Hrant Donelian is a jazz pianist, composer, educator and author.
Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, also known as Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YKSC) or Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC), is a state-owned college of music located in Yerevan, Armenia. The institute was founded in 1921 as a music studio. In 1923, it was turned into a higher musical education institution. It is named after Komitas, the founder of the Armenian national school of music.
Artemi (Harutyun) Ayvazyan was a Soviet Armenian composer, conductor, founder of the Armenian State Jazz Orchestra, and People's Artist of Armenia (1962).
Konstantin Aghaparonovich Orbelyan was an Armenian pianist, composer, head of the State Estrada Orchestra of Armenia.
Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian jazz pianist and composer. He plays mostly original compositions, strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities. In addition to this folk influence, Hamasyan is influenced by American jazz traditions and, to some extent, as on his album Red Hail, by progressive rock. His solo album A Fable is most strongly influenced by Armenian folk music. Even in his most overt jazz compositions and renditions of well-known jazz pieces, his improvisations often contain embellishments based on scales from Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian traditions.
The Gurdjieff Folk Instruments Ensemble based in Armenia was founded in 2008, and is led by the Armenian musician, Levon Eskenian. The Ensemble’s awards include the prestigious Dutch Edison Award: Best World Music Album 2012 and Armenian National Music Award: Best Folk Music Album 2011, for their album, “Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff,’’ produced by ECM Records. The ensemble consists of Armenia’s leading practitioners of traditional music performing on Duduk, Blul, Kamancha, Oud, Kanōn, Santur, Tar/Saz, Dap/Daf, Dhol, and Tombak. The repertoire is composed of the “mystic and spiritual teacher,” George I. Gurdjieff's Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Arabic, Kurdish, Caucasian spiritual and folk music, authentically arranged for Eastern instruments by Eskenian. The repertoire also includes additional Eastern music that exemplifies Gurdjieff’s musical influences during his travels in the East.
This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1902.
Swallow Music Awards is an annual national music awards ceremony first held in Yerevan, Armenia, on 25 March 2017. The awards are created and sponsored by RA Ministry of Culture to appreciate and spur the activities of individuals and creators of various genres of Armenian musical art, as well as to display the significant achievements in the field of music to the broader layers of society. The awards consist of four parts: achievements in classical genre, folk genre, mass pop genre, and special/other awards. During the ceremony artists are given the awards designed by Armenian painter and designer Arman Nur. Each year, the award ceremony airs live on Public Television company of Armenia.
The Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School, is a secondary school in Yerevan, Armenia which opened in 1939. The school is a specialized secondary school where a total of 600 students are enrolled in a 12-year education, while at the same time receiving 2 certificates of general and vocational education. Over 70 percent of the school's alumni attend the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.
Luys i Luso is the seventh album by Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan. It was released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
Levon Malkhasyan, also known as Malkhas, is an Armenian jazz musician, composer and pianist, one of the founders of the Armenian jazz scene, and owner of Malkhas Jazz Club.
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