Tigran Hamasyan

Born

1987-07-17

Birthplace

Leninakan, Armenian SSR, USSR [now Gyumri, Armenia]

Biography

Tigran Hamasyan (Armenian: Տիգրան Համասյան; born July 17 1987) is an Armenian jazz pianist and composer. He plays mostly original compositions, strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities. In addition to this folk influence, Hamasyan is influenced by American jazz traditions and, to some extent, as on his album Red Hail, by progressive rock. His solo album A Fable is most strongly influenced by Armenian folk music. Even in his most overt jazz compositions and renditions of well-known jazz pieces, his improvisations often contain embellishments based on scales from Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian traditions.