BIO TIGRAN HAMASYAN

In its ever-evolving state, invites into its fold imaginative artists who freely and courageously pursue their own vision, not only built on tradition but also infused with their own personality and passion. In the case of pianist/keyboardist Tigran Hamasyan, potent jazz improvisation fuses with the rich folkloric music of his native . Tigran is one of the most remarkable and distinctive jazz-meets-rock pianists of his generation. Tigran’s fresh sound is marked by an exploration of time signatures, charged dynamics, the shifting between acoustic and electric modes of expression, all undergirded by an affinity to the grind of heavy metal.

Born in , Armenia, in 1987, Tigran grew up in a household that was full of music—his father more of a rock fan while his uncle was a huge jazz buff. When he was just a toddler, Tigran gravitated to tape players and the piano instead of regular childhood toys, and by the time he was 3, he was working his way through figuring out songs on piano by the Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Queen. His jazz tastes early on were informed by Miles Davis’s fusion period, and then around the age of 10 when his family moved to , he came to discover the classic jazz songbook under the aegis of his teacher Vahag Hayrapetyan, who had studied with Barry Harris.

Tigran chose to study music. While he studied classical music at an Armenian high school geared toward music studies, Tigran continued to grow on his own as a jazz pianist. He performed at the First International Jazz Festival in Yerevan in 1998, which opened up other performance opportunities, and returned to the festival for its second edition in 2000, where he met , Avishai Cohen, and others. He also met promoter Stephane Kochoyan, who booked him to play several European festivals where he met such top-notch jazz stars as , Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, , and John Patitucci, among others. Soon after, Tigran began to win a series of piano competitions, including ’s in 2003 and later in 2006 both the top prize at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition and second place in the Martial Solal International Jazz Competition in Paris.

When he was 16, his parents moved to Los Angeles to give their two children (Tigran’s sister is a painter and sculptor) better artistic opportunities. Tigran stayed in high school for two months before gaining entrance to the University of Southern California, which he attended for two years. At the same time, he began to make contact with such jazz musicians as Alphonso Johnson and , and started gigging with saxophonist Ben Wendel and drummer Nate Wood. At the time Tigran also played in the band Pinot.

His first album for Universal, recorded in Paris on solo piano, “A Fable”, was released in 2011. It sold impressively for an instrumental album with 30,000 units and received acclaim throughout including winning a French Grammy award in 2011. Tigran’s rising stature in music garners notice globally wherever he has been able to be heard. A piano virtuoso with groove power, Tigran’s first project with Nonesuch Records is ‘The Ancient Observer’ (his second solo album). It’s a collection of new original compositions written over the course of the last three to four years—two of which are based on Armenian melodies. Some of the pieces are through composed and completely written out while others are through composed but with ample space for Tigran to improvise. Many include vocals layered into the mix. Like most of his recordings, the influences of the music are manifold, ranging from classical Baroque dance to J-Dilla-esque hip-hop grooves adapted to piano to a few tracks with pedals connected to a synthesizer—though the Armenian influence, which makes his music so uniquely outstanding, is prominent. Tigran's latest album The Call Within, released on Nonesuch, is an epic journey into the invisible inner world of the artist who despite having a physical body is living in a dreamlike inner world which is as realistic as the physical one. The album illustrates Hamasyan's remarkable gifts as a composer, musicologist and visionary.

Tigran’s unique profile displays dazzling piano dexterity with an undeniably profound sense of composition. He’s equally at ease with jazz, classical music, Armenian popular repertoire, rock, heavy metal, or avant-garde.

“A-may-zing! Now, Tigran, you are my teacher”- Herbie Hancock “A mature and great and rich and deep artist“ – Chick Corea “He plays piano like a raga, the next Keith Jarrett“ – Trilok Gurtu “Tigran really grabbed me, in this really cool way“ - Brad Mehldau “Where so much contemporary jazz can be a dreary display of muscle memory, Tigran has found a way to keep improvisation fresh and lyrical. Other jazz musicians would be wise to take note.” – The Guardian “Brilliant musician” – Later with Jools Holland