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Armen
Boyajian is a jazz pianist and violinist based in Charlotte, NC.
Originally from Binghamton, NY, he studied violin with Marianne Wallenberg, played in
youth symphony, and took classes at the
Eastman School of Music. While Armen is appreciative of classical music
(many of his fellow high school musicians, e.g. Jim Wallenberg and
Peter Kaman, went on to classical careers; and percussionist Pat
Hollenbeck to a career as a conductor/arranger at New England
Conservatory and the Boston Pops),
jazz has been his focus, initially on
violin with the first Air Apparent in Washington, DC.
This straight-ahead quartet was the incubator for rising jazz stars
Frank Kimbrough, Ed Howard, and Steve Williams.
Breaking
news: Armen's moved to Charlotte, NC! For
now, however, phone remains 706-373-0695 and e-mail armenb@comcast.net.
A shout-out to some of his new musical friends there, bassists Ron Brendle
(see www.ronbrendle.com) and Elisa Pruett (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=132549825),
drummer/pianist Steve Gordon, pianist Bill Gerhardt, trumpeter/vocalist
Jon Thornton, and saxophonist John Alexander. There are many good
musicians here!
Armen's
interest in jazz blossomed in 1970 when he saw Miles Davis perform in Binghamton, NY with a very
electric band including Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Steve Grossman, Airto and Dave Holland.
Armen was blown away by this concert and the fusion music of that era.
He studied classical violin while attending University of Rochester at Eastman
with Oliver Steiner, played in the All-University Symphony, and took a jazz improvisation class.
More important, he was exposed to great musicians like Phil Markowitz and
Alan Broadbent (both were at Eastman during this era). Following
graduation from Rochester in 1975, Armen received his MA from State
University of New York, which had a pretty active music scene --
Armen got to play with pianist Lee Musiker, study with Peter Marsh of
the Lennox Quartet (artists-in-residence at the time) and play in the
Harpur Orchestra. After graduate school, he moved to Washington, DC
in 1978, sharing a group house with fellow pianist Dan Latt.
In
Washington, Armen began playing with guitarist Paul Bollenback, who
introduced
Armen to 15-year-old bassist Ed Howard, and Air Apparent
began. Larry Scott was the first pianist in the
violin-fronted quartet, but when Armen heard NC pianist Frank Kimbrough
at a jam session at One Step Down, he made a change of personnel.
Joe Link was the first Air Apparent drummer but replaced
not long after by Steve Williams. In 1982, Steve joined Shirley Horn for
25-year association with the late singer/pianist from DC -- see http://www.abrushfire.com
Ed went on to play with Roy Haynes, Clifford Jordan, Bob Berg, Steve
Wilson, Randy Brecker, Joe Locke, Shirley Horn., and many others.
Frank Kimbrough has lived in New York since 1982 and has received significant critical acclaim
on his own, as a member of the Jazz Composers Collective, for his work
with the
Maria Schneider Orchestra,
see http://www.frankkimbrough.org
Between 1978 and 1982, Air Apparent had a great run in DC, playing
Blues Alley, Carter-Barron Amphitheater, and the
Wharf, in Alexandria, VA. Armen moved to New York in 1982. Curtis Lundy, Clifford Barbaro, Onaje Allan Gumbs, and
Stafford James played with Air Apparent between 1982-1985
in New York.
Armen moved to
Baltimore in 1985 and made the transition to piano around that time,
having used the piano to hear and understand jazz voicings and chord
changes. Armen learned a great deal from Kimbrough and Marc
Copland (see
http://www.marccopland.com) ,
who had studied with Lennie Tristano. Beginning in 1986 Armen led a quartet
featuring Sheila Ford on vocals at the Inner Harbor Hyatt, and also played with Dennis Chambers,
Vince Loving, Gary Thomas, George Colligan, Tim Murphy, Paul Gill, and
Bob Butta. Armen lived in Augusta, GA from 1993 to 2007, playing with the Word of
Mouth Band with former James Brown bassist David Weston. He's also played at
the Partridge Inn (1997-2002), Augusta Country Club,
West Lake Country Club, the Pinnacle Club and the Aiken Jazz Festival,
among other venues.
Thanks
to Mike Rhoden for web design -- m_rhoden@hotmail.com
-- he is also a jazz guitarist, composer and
recording engineer, who recorded and mastered the music you hear on this
site. Armen also thanks Erik
Hargrove ( www.erikhargrove.com),
George Sykes, Eric Hillman, Michael Peele, Rick Hawkins, Andrew Clemons
(www.dispatch.com) Wycliffe
Gordon, Buzz Clifford,
Chris Mangelly, Greg Alewine, Tim Blackwell, Michael Dease http://www.mikedease.com,
Wayne Preston, David Weston, David Heath, James McIntyre, Kevin Hyde,
Todd Edmunds, Craig Butterfield, Mike West, Joel Cruz, Travis Shaw, Fabio Mann, Joshua
Marks, and undoubtedly a few I've forgotten!
Armen's
operating philosophy is quite simple: find the best musicians you
can, challenge them with originals and fresh arrangements, but lead with
a light touch. Air
Apparent was an incubator for
some of the best jazz musicians of today! One night around 1982,
great trumpeter Wallace Roney (then around 18 years old) came up to Armen at a gig they were co-headlining at
American University in DC. Wallace said, “Who are these guys?”
(referring to Frank, Ed and Steve). Are they from New York?” Armen said
no, Ed’s from Northeast DC, Frank's from Roxboro, NC, and Steve is from Silver Spring. Wallace
said “Well, they sound like they’re from New York!” That pretty much
summed it up!
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Music Samples (double
click below) |
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Waltz for Bill Evans.mp3
Samba.mp3
Nothing Personal.mp3
Freedom Jazz Dance, Eddie
Harris-(head).mp3
Don't Let Me Be Lonely,
James Taylor (excerpt).mp3
(featuring
Patrick Blanchard, vocal) |
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L-R: George
Sykes, Erik Hargrove, Armen, Wynton Marsalis, Jeff Andrew
Simpson, Carl Brown at the Partridge Inn Augusta, Georgia, 1998
Check
out the band photos of past members and present in the Gallery
Section. And please check out the MP3 music
samples on this page - and remember, we're available, from solo
violin or piano on up to a quintet! |
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Below,
Armen and Ed Howard
play in NYC. Did you know that Ed was 15 years old
when he first began playing with Armen? |
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