Search - Djivan Gasparyan :: Ask Me No Questions

Armenian heritage

Pharoah S. Wail | 04/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jivan Gasparyan is the most famous duduk player in the world. His music has been much loved and adored for many years in Armenia and recognized throughout the world. Jivan Gasparyan's music travels deep into the roots of Ancient Armenian folklore music. The Genocide of the 1915 and the earthquake of 1988 had a big impact on his repertoire with the release of "I will not be sad in this world" album in 1989. At the same time Gasparyan collaborates with Peter Gabriel and the result was the award-winning music to the famous "Last Temptation of Christ" movie. He also collaborated with artists such as Lionel Richie, Michael Brooks, "Kronos Quartet" and recorded a number of soundtracks for different movies like Atom Egoyan's "Calendar", "Storm and Sorrow". His "Ask Me No Questions" album once again travels into the deep historical heritage of Armenia. His sad melodies endowed with a beautiful sound of duduk (sometimes without any other accompaniment) are deep, melancholic and touching. Gasparyan includes more folklore in "Song of Gyumri" and "Maidens of karabagh", at the same time his Komitas Suite is a tribute to Vardapet Komitas, the famous Armenian composer who went insane after seeing the atrocities of 1915 genocide carried out by the Ottoman empire...END"

Musical streams of smoke curling up out of a pipe

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 11/22/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a lovely, serene, contemplative album. If you're unfamiliar with the duduk, at least for me, I'd describe it as having a hint of the biting tone that so many of the oboe-family instruments from Asia have, but crossed with that soft serenity of the species of Native American flute that R. Carlos Nakai plays. I love those oboe-family instruments that are all over Asia, but I know some people seem to feel they are too abrasively reedy. You won't feel that way about the duduk.



You're not going to dance or even tap your toes to this album. This disc is for sitting back and oozing into a couch or a bed and zoning-out. Just let it unfold around you in the dark as you think about whatever you need to think about.







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