Armenian composer and pianist. His work in jazz, classical and indie music made him a prominent figure on the international music scene. Tigran Hamasyan, an Armenian-American by descent, was born in Gyumri in Armenia in 1987. He was raised in Los Anegeles and first encountered jazz and pop music. As a child, he was influenced by the music of the Beatles, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. But Hamasyan decided to focus his musical efforts on jazz. He became a skilled pianist in this style as a teenager. Hamasyan was inspired by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum and Charlie Parker. A few years later, he would win several contests, including one at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2003. Red Hail was issued in 2009 by Aratta Rebirth and his band. He released Red Hail in 2009 with his band Aratta Rebirth. Two years later, he released A Fable (credit simply as Tigran), which was his debut solo date for Verve. It featured the artist on piano, vocals and keyboards. Shadow Theater, which Jan Bang composed, followed that release with the acclaimed 2013 album Shadow Theater. He won the Vilcek Prize in Creative Promise in Contemporary Music that year. Hamasyan released Mockroot in 2015, an eclectic collection that featured original electro-acoustic compositions as well as a traditional song. His ECM debut, Luys i Luso (Armenian sacred music from the fifth century to the twenty-first century, arranged for piano u0026 voices), was released that year. It was recorded in the Yerevan State Chamber Choir, conducted by Harutyun TOPIKYAN. For a collaboration date with Eivind Aarset, Bang, Arve Henriksen and Bang, he returned to electro-acoustic music with the double-length Atmospheres EP on ECM in 2016. After returning to Armenia, Hamasyan released his second album, An Ancient Observer, in March 2017. It features four years of new compositions, two of which are based on Armenian melodies. While some pieces were composed, others allowed for free improvisation. Many songs have wordless vocals that are layered into them. His musical influences were numerous, as is his trademark. They ranged from Armenian folk music and classical Baroque dance to J-Dilla-esque hip-hop grooves that can be adapted to piano or tracks with pedals connected via a synthesizer. In early 2018, he released five more tracks from the sessions as the EP for Gyumri. The EP was titled after his hometown and prefaced with the video single “Rays of Light”. Allmusic
