You have to search hard to find some real classic jazz in the town of Fresno.
And not what they call "smooth jazz"!
I'm talking about the classic bebop and swing styles popularized from the greats, such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
Twenty-six year old pianoman, Armen Nalbandian, dedicated his life to jazz music at the age of thirteen.
This young artist has already achieved many accomplishments in his career.
Apart from winning several awards while in the Clovis West Jazz Big Band (including the Louis Armstrong award for outstanding achievement by a high school jazz musician) and being the first leader and founder of the small Jazz ensemble at the high school, Armen composed his first composition at the age of 16, entitled, The Dr. King Suite.
In addition, he premiered his first big band piece, Beloved (inspired by the book of the same name) in 1996.
Armen is currently the resident jazz artist at the Fresno Art Museum and he took some time out to chat with the S & S crew about real jazz in Fresno and more!
S&S-Paul: In your performances, do you feel like you're accumulating a fan base in your audiences?
Armen: Yes, absolutely. At this point the audience is split amongst people who are reoccurring because they've heard the music before and appreciate what we're doing and the additional people that show up through word of mouth.
All ages, all across the board. It seems like there is a huge cross section of Fresno showing up now which is always good.
S&S-Paul: What is your ultimate goal when you perform?
Armen: Well, having a place for jazz in Fresno and having the music presented the way it should be.
Generally, you hear jazz in the corner of a bar where everyone's come to drink and they can usually hear it wafting through everyone's voices in the bar.
We're trying to find a place where we have a concert hall. An actual place where people come to listen to the music. Not where it is secondary. The music is primary for us.
S&S-Paul: I read that you were born in Manchester, England. Did you grow up there?
Armen: My parents were there at the time. I didn't spend any period of time there really. Just about 6 months before I moved to New Jersey...New York... Los Angeles and then to Fresno.
S&S-Raina: What kind of jazz influenced you to play the genre?
Armen: Everything from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis. Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk.
Anyone that has that kind of groove to it you know? Makes you feel good after you've listen to it.
S&S-Raina: Many people in our age group are into hip hop, rock, emo, etc. What made you choose jazz as THE music for you?
Armen: Well I definitely was a product of the hip hop and rock generation and I grew up listening to Run DMC and all that stuff.
But then at a certain point I was exposed to jazz and there was something about the music that made me want to explore it further.
People just don't know about jazz until they are exposed to the music and unfortunately these days there aren't many places to hear the music.
I wanted to be a musician and at that point I liked to play the piano. I saw learned that the styles used to play rock or hip hop as compared to jazz were totally different.
There is allot of improvisation and creativity in jazz music that you don't hear much in other genres. Jazz can have the groove and swing without having to put a backbeat to it.
Jazz is something that develops, something that's very organic and that appealed to me. The music develops with the people you play with rather than just being a repetitious 'drill' type groove.
S&S-Raina: Apart from being the music director and resident jazz musician for the Fresno Art Museum, do you have time to just get out there and jam with other musicians?
Armen: Oh yeah, absolutely! I've stopped by and played with just about everyone. I've sat in with reggae groups at amateur nights...Iv'e played with allot of local musicians...
S&S-Paul: How did you become the resident jazz musician?
Armen: I met up with the marketing director, Nicole Gonzalez. And we spoke about featuring music inspired by the arts regularly. Sort of like a meeting of the two mediums. We got together with the president of the museum who liked the idea and we just started doing it.
S&S-Raina: How often do you play at the museum?
Armen: Generally, there is a concert once a month featuring original music, which I compose. The next one will be on March 20th.
S&S-Raina: What's next for Armen Nalbandian?
Armen: Associations with great jazz musicians that have come before me. With pop music, you generally just need a following to become a success.
With jazz there's so much to learn that if one really wants to become a jazz musician, you really have to get the experience by playing with musicians that have been playing for years and taking it to a national level.
***Armen has played with local musicians, Richard Giddens and drummer Sean Aldrette (of Checkmate, The Kevin Hill Trio, and more) in addition to national jazz greats Billy Higgins, Art Farmer, Britt Woodman, John Hicks, Carl Allen, Kenny Garrett, Charlie Haden, Horace Silver, John Hendricks & more!***
Catch Armen monthly at the Fresno Art Museum and tune in to KFSR 90.7FM in the mornings and on Thursday evenings to hear many of the great jazz musicians and genres featured in this interview!
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