Miasin Digipack

Description

This is the third album by Alexis Avakian with the same powerhouse team: Mauro Gargano, Fabrice Moreau, Ludovic Allainmat, Artyom Minasian. Whether on stage or listening to the album, they feel incredibly united and cohesive. They move forward together (this is the meaning of the Armenian word miasin). Together, but to evolve. For while the album follows the same line as Hi dream, released in 2016 and praised by critics, it has been enriched with new colors. Let’s start with what marks the continuity with the two previous albums: we find here this original (and indeed unique) blend of jazz infused with Armenian culture, with a subtle balance between all these elements. We are truly in jazz, not in folk music, and yet the Armenian atmospheres exist fully and without being diluted. One can hear a duduk solo followed by a swinging piano solo reminiscent of Red Garland without feeling a collision between two worlds. This balance in the group sound comes from the relationship that has gradually developed among all these musicians. Artyom Minasian, on duduk or chevi (traditional flute), obviously brings a very strong Armenian coloring. He is more moving than ever on this album. What he does at the beginning of Yerevanadzor would bring tears to a human resources director. With him, from the very first note, we are in pure emotion. Minasian and his duduk represent the Armenian pole, and for the jazz pole, we have drummer Fabrice Moreau (lively, inventive, swirling; listen to what he does in Yaoundé, the first track) and pianist Ludovic Allainmat (with a pearly and delicate touch, and that swing vibration in the tradition of the great masters). And two musicians to bridge these two worlds: Mauro Gargano, with an impressive presence, who knows how to fill the space with a round note or a half note, and Alexis Avakian himself, in composition, on tenor saxophone or flute. Here we find the inspired composer of Boulevard des grands Pins from his previous album, with more splendid successes: Yerevanadzor, Yahoundé, the role is beautiful (an anagram, of course, of Boléro). Avakian has truly found his own thing, a kind of warmth in melancholy, with once again a beautiful balance between sensitivity and energy, and a rather masterful use of unisons (for example in Miasin). As an instrumentalist, he has gained in density. His chorus in Yaoundé proves this, with a very Coltrane-like meditative and introspective atmosphere. I spoke of continuity. What is new in this new opus is the presence of Armenian singer Miqayel Voskanian, whose smooth, flexible voice is so captivating in the high notes (for example in Improvisation pour Julien). This voice naturally finds its place among instrumentalists like Avakian and Minasyan, who sing through their instruments. The presence of the Armenian tar (a kind of long-necked lute) also brings beautiful colors (one will appreciate the lovely dialogue between the tar and Fabrice Moreau's drums in Gugo’s joke). What is also new is the ability to test more spontaneous forms. Here the group takes us where we least expect it, as in Circus or Improvisation pour Julien, one of the album's very beautiful successes. These pieces attest to the maturity of the group and its confidence in each other's instincts. We return to the title of the album, Miasin. All the secret is there. These musicians are definitely together. JF Mondot