Sunnyside Records SSC 4036
Armen Donelian | Piano
Jay Anderson | Bass
Dennis Mackrel | Drums
All songs composed by Armen Donelian (BMI, HFA) except where noted.
Noviembre 4:12
Fresh Start 6:22
Ferry Maiden (Vatan Rajan Singh) 5:52
Madagascar 6:04
Gale (Richard Beirach) 4:16
Never let Me Go (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans) 5:32
Tirado 6:01
In A Western Night (Sophia Bondi) 6:13
Day Break (Makanda Ken McIntyre) 9:02
Janet Left The Planet 4:12
I’m Stepping Out With A Memory Tonight (Herb Magdison/Allie Wrubel) 3:04
Tales In A Western Night (Armen Donelian/Jay Anderson/Dennis Mackrel) 3:27
CREDITS
Recorded October 16, 2020 (#11 p/v), June 14, 15 & 17, 2021 (#1-10 & #12), June 14, 2021 (#11 b/d), Area 52 Studio, Saugerties, NY, Dave Cook, Engineer
Edited November 20, 2020 (#11 p/v), July 6, August 6, September 7 & 21, 2021 (all tracks edited and mixed), Area 52 Studio, Saugerties, NY, Dave Cook, Engineer
Mastered by Katsuhiko Naito, Autumn, 2021.
Executive Producer: Francois Zalacain
Artistic Producer: Armen Donelian
Album Design and Art: Chris Drukker
Liner Photo: Rudy Lu
Liner Text: Don Elian
Armen Donelian is a Steinway Affiliated Artist.
PRESS
HOT HOUSE (March 2022)
“There’s never been a doubt about veteran pianist Armen Donelian’s talent, originality, and ability to think and play quickly and soulfully.”
Michael G. Nastos
DOWNBEAT (May 2022)
“There’s always room in the world for a piano trio that can swing hard enough to make you tap your foot and nod your head, while also offering melodies that will stay with you after the music’s over. Armen Donelian, who’s made 10 previous CDs for the Sunnyside label, and three more on other labels, as well as working with Billy Harper (on 1979’s tremendous Trying To Make Heaven My Home and more) and Mongo Santamaria, has mastered this particular kind of musical alchemy. Fresh Start is aptly titled; it’s his first release since 2014, and features a new rhythm section in bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel. It’s good to have him back.
Because the compositions are straightforward, with no tricky melodies or rhythmic puzzles, the hour of music presented is all about mood and feel. The group swings hard on the uptempo numbers, allows a romantic haze to rise up from the ground on ballads, and when they move into a Latin-derived groove on numbers like Tirado and Madagascar, the rhythm section displays an impressive combination of suppleness and discipline. Donelian’s playing always serves the overall composition; he writes in the liner notes that his focus is on “sound, expression, storytelling and emotional character,” and that’s evident throughout.”
Phillip Freeman
MIDWEST JAZZ RECORD (February 2022)
What's a 71 year old piano cat to do when he gets sidelined by the pandemic and breaks his shoulder? How about sow the seeds for a new trio and reinvent the way he listens and plays music while writing up a storm of new material? Work for you? Resulting in a sound that sounds like Jarrett not sounding like Jarrett, Donelian takes listening jazz to new places and serves up sophisticated sounds that don't have their nose in the air. Tasty piano trio work certainly for when it's 5 o'clock somewhere in the world.
Chris Spector
MR. STU’S RECORD ROOM (June 2022)
Pianist Armen Donelian composed five of the songs for his latest CD, Fresh Start, with his new trio of bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel. The balance of this largely compelling release comes from writers as varied as fellow pianist Richie Beirach (Gale), Indian drummer Vatan Rajan Singh (Ferry Maiden), and the late multi-instrumentalist Makanda Ken McIntyre (Day Break, from a 1975 quartet date on SteepleChase), plus a brief group improvisation (Tales in the Western Night) that fades out to end the disc. Also on the program are a pair of standards (I’m Stepping Out With a Memory Tonight, from 1940, and Never Let Me Go, from 1956). On the former, Donelian sings and plays piano, with Anderson and Mackrel overdubbing their parts later. Let’s just say that Donelian is not much of a singer, but given all the work that went into the production, the lyric must mean something special to him. The mood of Donelian’s new music, written during the pandemic, naturally enough is often melancholy and wistful but with an optimistic core of innate lyricism. One key to the success of this release is the way the instrumental focus keeps shifting, often unexpectedly, from piano to bass to drums. It helps, naturally, that Donelian has such astute companions in this journey. Bassist Anderson is a stellar accompanist in this setting. He is no less formidable and inventive as a soloist, and his frequent solos are a pleasure. Drummer Mackrel, a solid and understated swinger, completes the superbly balanced trio. His delicate cymbal work is especially fine. Some of the highlights: the slow to develop In the Western Night, which unfolds rather beautifully over six minutes, the captivating Noviembre which opens the CD, and the way the trio caresses the melody of Never Let Me Go. All told, this session is indeed a Fresh Start for a reinvigorated Armen Donelian. It’s well worth your time.
Stuart Kremsky
NEW YORK MUSIC DAILY (July, 2022)
“A Gorgeously Haunting Trio Album and a Week in the Park From Pianist Armen Donelian”
Pianist Armen Donelian has a very distinctive, darkly lyrical sound. His jazz tribute to undeservedly obscure Armenian composer Sayat-Nova – who invented Romanticism more than a century before Chopin – is one of the most poignantly gorgeous albums of recent years. His latest release Fresh Start – streaming at Bandcamp – picks up where that one left off, a trio session with Jay Anderson on bass and Dennis Mackrel on drums. Donelian has an interesting series of solo gigs coming up on the back terrace at Bryant Park starting tomorrow, July 11 through 15 at half past noon. He’s has played this series in the past and likes to use it to stretch out and build a mood. The album’s opening number, Noviembre is a real haunter, Donelian evoking the Chopin E Minor Prelude with his mutedly insistent left hand, Anderson’s moody cantabile phrasing ceding to the pianist’s icy chromatics, Mackrel edging toward a bossa rhythm. Stern modalities and close harmonies permeate the album’s title track, Mackrel holding back suspensefully from a straight-ahead swing, Donelian’s clustering attack receding for a sinuous Anderson solo. Ferry Maiden, by Vatan Rajan Singh, makes a good segue, Donelian making a plaintive clave out of it, Anderson parsing the lows with longing but restraint. There’s a similarly dusky, hypnotically brooding intensity to Madagascar, an altered samba as Randy Weston might have done it. Gale, a Richie Beirach tune, is a calm before the storm, Donelian reaching up for chilly, starry highs this time over Mackrel’s misty brushwork, Anderson choosing his spots as Donelian lingers, deep in the galaxy. He leaves almost as much space in the first of the standards here, Never Let Me Go, which speaks to its underlying angst and hope against abandonment as the notes do. Tirado, a somber bolero, lightens somewhat as Donelian and Anderson expand upward. In The Western Night, a catchy, crescendoing ballad by Sophia Bondi, gets a more warmly nocturnal, occasionally gospel-tinged treatment and then a more exploratory reprise at the end of the record. Anderson’s dynamically shifting pulse balances Donelian’s dancing upper register lines in the album’s most expansive number, Makanda Ken McIntyre’s Day Break. Janet Left The Planet is sprightly but steely, written in memory of two of Donelian’s colleagues with that name. Then he puts on his crooner hat and acquits himself with a wistful take on the mic in I’m Stepping Out With A Memory Tonight. In its understated and saturnine way, this is one of the most evocative jazz albums of the year.
Delarue
NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD (May, 2022)
Armen Donelian began playing piano early in life, at first by ear when he was five then having extensive classical lessons from age seven. Jazz always interested him and he started gigging when he was 13 with guitarist Art Ryerson. After graduating from Columbia University in 1972, he took lessons from Richie Beirach for two years, accompanied a variety of singers and in 1975 had his breakthrough when he joined Mongo Santamaria. Important associations with Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Paquito D’Rivera and Billy Harper followed. Starting in 1980, Donelian (who has also been active as an educator for many years) began a long series of rewarding recordings as a leader, including 11 for the Sunnyside label. At 71, Donelian still plays in a fresh, lively and mostly swinging but unpredictable style. Both his solos and his original compositions are quite harmonically advanced and personal, not really sounding like anyone else.
Fresh Start has him joined by bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel on six originals, four obscurities (including a song apiece by Beirach and Ken McIntyre) and two standards. The emphasis is on slower tempos and melodic improvisations with plenty of interplay between Donelian and Anderson; Mackrel is often felt as much as heard other than on his occasional solos. To name a few of the more memorable performances, Noviembre has a mysterious sounding theme and inventive trades between piano and bass while Vatan Rijan Singh’s Ferry Maiden and Beirach’s Gale are both introspective and laidback ballads filled with subtle creativity. Madagascar includes a catchy bass pattern in 5/4, which inspires some of Donelian’s most heated playing of the set. Tirado has a haunting melody and a Latin tinge, Sophia Bonid’s In The Western Night features assertive and triumphant piano recalling Keith Jarrett and the episodic nature of Janet Left The Planet will keep one guessing. Throughout the set Anderson, who is showcased on Makanda Ken McIntyre’s Day Break, provides concise solos and acts as a constant commentator behind Donelian’s lead. The biggest surprise is Herb Magidson-Allie Wrubel’s I’m Stepping Out With A Memory Tonight, probably Donelian’s first-ever recorded vocal. He sounds fine although obviously will not be giving up his career as a pianist for singing anytime soon. Fresh Start is a fine outing, a fine introduction for those not familiar with Donelian’s consistently excellent playing.
Scott Yanow
O’s PLACE JAZZ MAGAZINE (March 2022)
Composer, pianist Armen Donelian assembles a trio with bassist Jay Anderson and Dennis Mackrel on drums. They perform a dozen compositions including five originals making a refreshing, peaceful set. Madagascar, Gale and Noviembre are highlights. It’s excellent background music for a romantic dinner. Donelian is focused on respectful conversations and interactions as we emerge from the calamity of the past few years. Fresh Start is healing music towards that end.
Oscar Groomes
WULF MILLER BLOG (June, 2022)
Pianist Donelian recorded his latest album with a new trio, consisting besides him of bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel. I had first heard of Donelian as part of the group Night Ark, whose two albums in the 1990's I released on Emarcy and liked his beautiful touch and melodic sense. Says Donelian about the preparation for this album: "Instead of focusing on what I was playing, I was focusing more on how I was playing, on touch, expression, and storytelling, allowing the sound to happen in its own way." The album swings, offers contemplation in the slower tunes and even a surprise vocal performance by the veteran pianist. The Richie Beirach tune Gale gets a wonderful treatment and is one of the highlights of the album. another one being the playful Janet Left The Planet, which Donelian dedicates to the memory of vocalist Janet Lawson and bassoonist Janet Grice. An outstanding piano trio album!
Wulf Miller