YESSAÏ is the first solo album from Franco-Armenian pianist and composer Yessaï Karapetian. -- After notable live performances with Guillaume Perret (A Certain Trip, 12 Levers de Soleil) and as part of the ONEFOOT trio – a pioneer of French 'next gen' jazz (revisit Mektonized) – Yessaï Karapetian is now spreading his wings, determined to make a splash. - - The album's 9 magnetic and powerful compositions are as visceral as they are cerebral. These are often fascinating, sometimes unsettling, but always virtuosic "pieces" of art. The 9 tracks are brought to life by a top-tier dream team, supporting the musician in the studio and live. On bass, we find Marc Karapetian, the leader's brother, who also records and performs with the unparalleled Tigran Hamasyan. Théo Moutou plays drums, while we savor the notes of guitarist Gabriel Gosse (a genius found performing with Christian Scott, Eddy de Pretto, and Katerine). Saxophonist Mounir Sefsouf completes the cosmopolitan and iconoclastic lineup envisioned by Karapetian. These five young French musicians, with a conquering spirit, hail from Armenia, Guadeloupe, Reunion Island, and Algeria. They met on the benches of the CNSMDP, and for them, music and humanity are one. - - In this first opus, Yessaï Karapetian offers the public an intense, coherent, almost spiritual work, balancing shadow and light, imbued with beauty and melancholy. "It took me 6 years to find the ideal formula," confides the pianist. "I tested dozens of formations, from trio to nonet; electric, acoustic instrumentations, ranging from traditional Armenian instruments to purely electronic productions. It haunted me until I found the ideal form and collaborators. As is often the case, the problems and blockages are in my head. I have to fight my own demons, my 'doppelgängers' (a theme explored in the album's first single, Doppelganger10) to free myself and move forward. When I dare to face them, solutions miraculously reveal themselves. This album documents that process."
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