Jazz Articles about Armen Donelian

Sharp Radway, Gerald Clayton and Armen Donelian

by Joe Dimino
May 22, 2022

We begin the 752nd Episode of Neon Jazz with pianist Armen Donelian with new music from his latest release Fresh Start. Next, we hear from his friend Billy Harper and a host of veteran artists with new material out in 2022. From the likes of Sam Kirmayer, David Nichtern, Sharp Radway and James Brown Gang. In between, we hear from legends Randy Weston, Joe Sullivan and Hubert Laws. Our final song on this hour comes from Gerald Clayton with music ...

Armen Donelian: Sayat-Nova: Songs of my Ancestors

by Gabriel Medina Arenas
March 17, 2014

The sound of his piano evokes treasured sounds from a small and hidden mountainous country full of cultural richness and history in the heart of Eurasia. On his thirteenth solo album, the New Yorker veteran musician Armen Donelian paid a homage to Armenia, the homeland of his forefathers. Donelian, a classically trained pianist who played and recorded with legends like Mongo Santamaria, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker and Paquito D' Rivera, titled his latest record Sayat-Nova: Songs ...

Armen Donelian: Consummate Musician

by R.J. DeLuke
March 5, 2012

Consistency of excellence is an extraordinary thing in music--particularly improvised music, where taking chances, however satisfying, can be risky. The daredevil on the tightrope might amaze onlookers. But he also might fall.61 year-old pianist Armen Donelian, a New York City native who now lives in upstate New York but who has traveled the globe as a jazz artist and as Fulbright scholar, is one of those improvising musicians. He's played all kinds of music during his lifetime. He ...

Armen Donelian: Leapfrog

by Dan Bilawsky
August 23, 2011

While cohesion and individuality, by their very definitions, may seem to be at odds with one another, the music on Leapfrog reconciles these two opposing ideals without a problem. For his ninth date on the Sunnyside label, pianist Armen Donelian has together a program of strikingly modern originals that showcase the cutting edge talent and simpatico sensibilities of his band. The personnel in Donelian's quintet might, at the surface, seem like an intergenerational mishmash, but that couldn't ...

Armen Donelian Trio: Oasis

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 2, 2008

Armen Donelian è pianista raffinato, autore di notevoli lavori per piano solo (clicca qui per leggere la recensione dell’ottimo Mystic Heights) e apprezzato collaboratore del grande e sfortunato Tom Chapin (clicca qui per leggere la recensione del loro Quartet Language). Nella sua ultima registrazione, Oasis, documenta la propria formazione in trio con il bassista David Clark e il batterista George Schuller. Anche per la scelta di brani in larga parte originali, il lavoro ruota attorno ad atmosfere soffuse, con momenti ...

Armen Donelian: Full Moon Music

by Elliott Simon
October 10, 2005

The third chapter in pianist Armen Donelian's Grand Ideas trilogy, Full Moon Music, stands alone in its ability to allow the listener to bond with the artist on a most personal level. Consisting of fourteen freely improvised solo piano portraits, the program masterfully tip-toes, walks, and runs along the thinnest of lines separating jazz and classical performance. Donelian is intimately familiar with the subtle nuances of his gorgeously warm 19th Century reconditioned Steinway and it serves as the vehicle for ...

Armen Donelian: Full Moon Music

by Michael McCaw
August 17, 2005

Precious few listeners are aware of Armen Donelian. A tremendously talented pianist who has never had a major label signing nor has attached his name to a legend or star of some sort, Donelian has quietly created a body of work that at the very least is consistent, at best exhilarating. His latest release covers the same amount of ground.

Full Moon Music is the final installment in Donelian's Grand Ideas series. Volume 1 - Wave focused on ...