An innovative jazz pianist is coming to Cincinnati where his performance will include many of his own works.
Tigran Hamasyan is a jazz pianist from Armenia whose original compositions are inspired to a great extent by Armenian folk melodies since the artist often uses modalities and scales directly from this tradition. Other influences on him include American jazz, and progressive rock. However, observers note that even when he is working on a “pure” jazz piece, he will often add embellishments based on musical practices from Southwestern Asia and the Middle East.
A a native of Gyumri, Armenia, Hamasyan began to play the piano at age three. When he was six, he began attending music school, and at that time, wanted to be a thrash metal guitarist. At nine, he began studying jazz, and was a teenager when he began blending traditional folk tunes into jazz compositions, the style he continues. His family moved to California when he was 16, but he returned to Armenia, which is currently his home base.
Hamasyan has had a prolific recording career, releasing his first album, “World Passion,” in 2006. He subsequently released another ten, the latest, “StandArt,” dropping in 2022. He has won numerous awards, including the 2016 ECHO Jazz Awards, and 1st Prize from the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in 2006.
The Ludlow Garage will welcome Hamasyan on March 21. When organizers plan events like this, they will often turn to poster printing to create suitable advertisements.
