Tigran Hamasyan, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang ‎- Atmosphères (2016)

Double album of atmospheric improvisations / ambient jazz / just great music, from the combination of four of ECM's most interesting latter-day musicians.  Armenian pianist Hamasyan was joined for this three-day recording session in Italy by Norwegians Henrisken on trumpet, Aarset on guitar/electronics, and Bang on electronics/sampling.

The backbone of Atmosphères is the ten-part Traces suite, with a handful of compositions by Hamasyan's national legend Komitas threaded through it.  With no drummer, and the suite only occasionally catching fire (such as Parts 2 and 7), the main mode of expression is free-floating, wispy ambience.  I remember buying Atmosphères on its release, and taking a while to really warm to it - but it's well worth sticking with, everything here equally rewards background listening or close attention.

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

pw: sgtg

Tigran Hamasyan at SGTG:

Luys I Luso

Eivind Aarset & Jan Bang at SGTG:

Dream Logic

Tigran Hamasyan with the Yerevan State Chamber Choir - Luys I Luso (2015)

Armenian for "light from Light", Luys I Luso was the brainchild of pianist Tigran Hamasyan (b. 1987) in which he wanted to fuse together Armenian sacred choral pieces from the 5th - 20th centuries (including ones by Komitas) with classical composition and improvisation.  The results were gorgeous and spellbinding, with the austere beauty of the Yerevan State Chamber Choir blending perfectly with Hamasyan's piano.

Sometimes providing minimal piano accompaniment, sometimes letting rip in more jazzy runs (Voghormea indz Astvats is the most eyebrow-raisingly energetic thing here), Hamasyan's skill is that this potentially clashing mix just works, and pays off in spades.  Whether he's taking a brief diversion into prepared piano (Nor Tsaghik) or closing the album with a sampled recording from 1912 ('made in the presence of Komitas'), Luys I Luso is superbly arranged and just hugely enjoyable in its otherworldly, transportive magic.

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