Serj Tankian is an Armenian-American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and political activist. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994.
Brian Blade is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.
Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Mark Turner is an American jazz saxophonist.
Kenny Barron is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era.
Luciana Souza is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who also works in classical and chamber music.
Ari Hoenig is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.
Scott Tixier is a GRAMMY award-winning French jazz violinist and a recording artist. He is professor of jazz violin and alternative styles at the University of North Texas.
Nate Wood is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. He has performed with Wayne Krantz, Kneebody, Tigran Hamasyan, The Calling, and Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders.
Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian jazz pianist. He plays mostly original compositions, which are strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities. In addition to Tigran's folk influence, he 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 on his most overt jazz compositions and renditions of well-known jazz pieces, his improvisations often contain embellishments based on scales from Middle Eastern/South Western Asian traditions.
Ben Wendel is a Canadian-American jazz saxophonist, composer, bassoonist, and pianist. He is best known for being a founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Kneebody. He has also performed as a leader or sideman with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ignacio Berroa, Daedelus, Taylor Eigsti, Gerald Clayton, and Tigran Hamasyan.
Jazz-Iz-Christ is the debut studio album by Jazz-iz Christ, a group fronted by Armenian-American singer Serj Tankian. The album was released on July 23, 2013, by Serjical Strike Records.
Atmosphères is a jazz and ambient double studio album by a quartet composed the pianist Tigran Hamasyan, the trumpeter Arve Henriksen, the guitarist Eivind Aarset and the musician Jan Bang. This album was released in the label ECM Records in September 2016.
Mockroot is the sixth album by Tigran Hamasyan released 17 February 2015. The album mixes traditional Armenian folk music with jazz, in the jazz fusion style. It features Tigran on synths, keyboard and vocals; Sam Minaie on bass guitar; and Arthur Hnatek on the drums and electronics. It was the first album he released on Nonesuch Records. The album was planned to be released 26 January 2015, but was delayed and released 17 February 2015.
A Fable is the 4th album by Tigran Hamasyan released in February 2011. Tigran uses traditional Armenian hymns, Armenian poetry and Armenian folk music as the basis for the tracks on the album. The album also draws influences from Jazz, Rock and Pop. Tigran in an interview said that he chose the name of the album "... because each composition tells a story ... [and] people can relate to fables because they are both simple, yet deep." He only used his first name on this album's release, but has used his full name in subsequent albums.
Luys i Luso is the seventh album by Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan. It was released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
An Ancient Observer is the 8th album by Tigran Hamasyan released 31 March 2017. Two of the tracks on the album are developments of traditional Armenian melodies and all tracks have influences from Armenian folk music. Tigran also draws inspiration from Jazz and Rock music, as well as the natural landscape of Mount Ararat. This was Tigran's second album on Nonesuch Records. The album is mostly solo piano, however, there is sparing use of electronics and vocals. Tigran considers his next release, the EP For Gyumri, to be a companion work to this album.
For Gyumri is the 3rd extended play by Tigran Hamasyan and was released 16 February 2018. Tigran considers this EP a companion work to his 8th album An Ancient Observer, which was released the year before. Similarly to An Ancient Observer, this work is mostly solo piano with use of sparing vocals. The album is named after the city Gyumri and is where Tigran was born. This was his 3rd release on Nonesuch Records, with the two previous releases being An Ancient Observer and Mockroot. Tigran said that this album "... is an ode to my birthplace, the town that nourished my childhood world with great experiences and made me who I am". He performed this EP in Royce Hall at University of California, Los Angeles, and part of the proceeds went to the Children of Armenia Fund.
Miho Hazama is a Tokyo-born composer and jazz musician, based in New York City.
The Call Within is a 10 track LP record by Tigran Hamasyan which was released 28 August 2020. The LP is performed by Hamasyan, Evan Marien playing bass guitar and Arthur Hnatek playing the drums. The LP also features Tosin Abasi on the track Vortex, and also features in the album Areni Agbabian and Artyom Manukyan. The track Old Maps features the Varduhi Art School Children’s Choir.
