Vardan Grigoryan - In the Shadow of the Song

The Armenian musician Grigoryan Vardan is one of the country's leading performers on the duduk and on this new recording he performs traditional Armenian songs as well as his own compositions.Grigoryan comes from a family of musicians and his unique talent for performing traditional Armenian folk music and as a composer has resulted in collaborations with several well-known musicians, including Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul and Paul Winter. He is also a member of Arto Tuncboyacjyan's Armenian Navy Band.On the album Grigoryan's own compositions are clearly based on the traditional heritage of his instrument. His familiarity with less traditional repertoires is evident, but he is able to make the emotive sounds of the duduk co-exist with the more modern phrasing of other musical languages.Personnel: Vardan Grigoryan (duduk, zurna), Nerses Grigoryan, David Minasyan (background duduk), Alik Peloshyan (dhol), Avetis Yepremyan (kopal dhol), Souren Grigoryan (bass dhol), Norair Kartashyan (daf)