Macha Gharibian – Joy Ascension (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Macha Gharibian – Joy Ascension (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 42:15 minutes | 497 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rue bleue

For his third ambitious album with the coltranian title, Joy Ascension, Macha Gharibian assumes his position as pianist, singer, author, composer, arranger, director and leader. Around her, two colorists who handle the notes like De La gouache, drummer Dré Pallemaerts and double bassist Chris Jennings, plus two guests, Bert Joris who draws with his trumpet cool fulgurances at the Chet on the aerial ballad The Woman I Am Longing to Be and Artyom Minasyan who strengthens with his doudouk the hypnotic Sari Siroun Yar. The volcanic voice of Macha Gharibian brings her into the family of solar and inhabited vocalists, a very closed club that goes from Nina Simone to Mélissa Laveaux.

There’s no doubt about the “Joy” in Joy Ascension. Macha Gharibian is radiant and vivacious as never before in this, her third album. The Armenian pianist and singer has long been blending genres with a divine refinement, sidestepping the stodgy mass of jazz’n’world clichés. With jazz and improvisation as its backbone, wreathed around with Armenian folk music, the album takes an almost poppy approach to some melodies and draws on oriental sounds, deep and growling incantations – always uniting these disparate elements with ease and finesse. Her education in classical piano and her studies alongside Ravi Coltrane, Craig Taborn, Jason Moran and Andy Milne equipped her to create a very original, nomadic jazz that comes in both vocal and instrumental flavours. This time, with the help of an exceptional rhythm section made up of Belgian drummer Dré Pallemaerts and the Canadian Chris Jennings on the double bass, the borders of her musical world have expanded to take in groove (as in the funky Fight) and incantatory fury (Freedom Nine Dance). All the same, Bert Joris’s trumpet can still add something to the magnificence of the ballad The Woman I Am Longing to Be and Artyom Minasyan’s duduk can transcend the already-semi-mystical force of Sarí Siroun Yar. Add in a beautiful and well-conceived cover of Paul Simon’s classic 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover punctuated by some sparks flying from Fender Rhodes – and Macha Ghabarian has created a dense and winning record that cements her standing as a charmingly unique figure on the modern jazz scene. – Marc Zisman

Tracklist:
1. Macha Gharibian – Joy Ascension (04:37)
2. Macha Gharibian – Georgian Mood (05:30)
3. Macha Gharibian – Fight (03:40)
4. Macha Gharibian – The Woman I Am Longing To Be (05:44)
5. Macha Gharibian – Sari Siroun Yar (07:41)
6. Macha Gharibian – 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover (04:46)
7. Macha Gharibian – Crying Bohemia (03:26)
8. Macha Gharibian – Freedom Nine Dance (06:48)

Download:

Related Posts

%d bloggers like this: