Bloom

Description

For her first ECM record, the vocal improviser, folk singer, storyteller, and pianist Areni Agbabian develops the full range of her musical skills into a music full of spaces and ethereal charm in which the voice, piano, and subtle percussion of Nicolas Stocker (last heard on ECM with Nik Bärtsch's Mobile ensemble) continuously move towards silence. Agbabian has attracted the attention of an international audience within Tigran Hamasyan's groups. Born in California, she draws her references from the depths of her Armenian heritage, offering new and unique interpretations of sacred hymns, traditional tales, and folk melodies transcribed by Komitas, intertwining these elements with her own compositions of great evocative power.