Oasis - CD

ENGLISH

For three decades, the New York/Armenian pianist, composer, bandleader, educator, and author Armen Donelian has provided welcome relief from the clichés of jazz pianism plaguing our era. Indeed, Donelian s piano playing reveals a masterful command rooted in classical and jazz studies, clean articulation, a deft, swinging touch, access to a broad dynamic spectrum, a virtuosic harmonic vocabulary and a boundless source of creative ideas. Along with his all-encompassing compositional genius, Donelian spans American and European improvisational, classical and folk idioms. Without force or persuasion, he invites the listeners to join him in personal and reflective explorations. Donelian s gifts are on full display on Oasis, his latest Sunnyside release and his 11th as a leader, with bassist David Clark and George Schuller, his band-mates for four years.<br /> <br /> On the CD s eight tracks, Donelian swings and sings on his instrument with authority and clarity. Six compositions were composed by the leader: The mid-tempo title selection which opens the CD; Spree, a jump-tune that slyly navigates between waltz-time and reggae; the pedal point-propelled basslines of Waiting for Flora ; the Latin-lilted Easy Does It ; the misty and mystical Lady of Ghent, dedicated to his wife; and San Souci, another waltz tune. Two standards round out this delightful and dynamic disc: John Lewis immortal elegy, Django, written for the brilliant Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, recast with Donelian s ingenious melodic reconfiguration; and Sunrise, Sunset, from the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof, performed with new horizons.<br /> <br /> Donelian s aural alchemy stems from his eclectic cultural and musical biography. Born in 1950 in New York City to Armenian immigrant parents who listened to Armenian, Turkish and Greek music at social gatherings when he was a child, Donelian studied classical piano with Michael Pollon for 12 years at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in suburban White Plains. In 1968 he played Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and Prokofiev at his senior recital, but not before joining a jazz group in his early teens led by guitarist Arthur Ryerson, Sr. and immersing himself in the music of Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.