With bounding progressions and interjecting instrumentals, Ceasefire is the second single off Transition – a richly textured progressive world jazz album with heavy Armenian influences.
With bounding progressions and interjecting instrumentals, Ceasefire is the second single off Transition – a richly textured progressive world jazz album with heavy Armenian influences.
Unwinding and evolving as each bar passes, each element holds the song together in its own unique way – sometimes resulting in synchronised and charming partnerships between clarinet and piano while the rest of the music drives the progression. With jazzy cuts at the start and the end of the track rounded out by smooth piano throughout the middle, Ceasefire exudes a masterful command of balance between mood and technique.
“Ceasefire was composed on a single riff that I had in mind, which gradually developed into a complete tune,” says Margossian. “During the first rehearsal of the piece, Stuart mentioned that the beginning of the song reminded him of a ‘breaking news’ jingle, which took me back in time to Beirut, and I immediately remembered the ‘breaking news’ tune on the radio we used to hear in the basements when they used to announce ‘ceasefire’ for an hour or two during the civil war. So, I thought it was suitable to call the piece ‘Ceasefire’ and I want it to spread a positive message; a message of peace and an on-going ceasefire all over the world.”
Margossian draws influence from an elaborate range of middle-eastern music, resulting in melodies that juggle speed, calculation and experimentation alongside a sometimes soft, windswept mood. Armenian jazz from the likes of Vahagn Hayrapetyan and the Cats, The Armenian Navy Band, traditional Armenian music, the works of Tunisian composer, singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef and Tigran Hamasyan are all listed under Margossian’s main inspirations, taking form in music with a complex sound, shape and technique.
From start to finish, the songs on Transition bear many hidden traits that make it all the more enjoyable. Margossian’s stop-start style of fast, accurate piano, coupled with the quintet’s wild percussion and drumming, soothing clarinet and double bass are all perfectly complemented by a clean, authentic production style – allowing each instrument to breathe and be appreciated to their fullest.
With plenty of toe-tapping beats and polyrhythmic interjections, Transition’s successes come from perfectly balancing technical prowess next to a foreign, almost mystic mood.
Zela Margossian Quintet’s swcond single, Ceasefire, is now available to stream via Bandcamp.
Their debut record, Transition, releases in full on 30 November 2018.
Sydney launch show: Friday 14 December at Foundry 616.