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Critical response to Armen Donelian's recordings and performances is unanimous in its praise.
"His flexibility should extend in several directions." - Howard Mandel, Downbeat (Afro-Indio LP with percussionist Mongo Santamaria, 1975)
"He spun out a melodic spiderweb that entranced the audience completely." - William Orker, New York Daily World (live performance of Essence led by Armen Donelian, Sweet Basil, NYC, 1978)
"Armen Donelian immediately proved himself a virtuoso...he played hard-edged, exclamatory chords offset by lightly sounded lines that seemed weightless by comparison." Conrad Silvert, San Francisco Chronicle (live performance with saxophonist Billy Harper Quintet, Keystone Korner, 1980)
"A strongly individual identity... Donelian's work subsumes the passion of Chick Corea, the rigor of Richie Beirach, and Bill Evans' ascetic romanticism." - Richard Sudhalter, NY Post (live performance of Armen Donelian Quartet, 7th Avenue South, NYC, 1983)
"Donelian is a crisp, harmonically oriented pianist whose fleet attack sets the standard for the rest of the quartet. He's a distinctive stylist." Kevin Whitehead, Jazz Times (Nightwork LP with guitarist Rory Stuart, 1984)
"His playing is a revelation. Harmonic intricacies open up all sorts of possibilities, yet he's always there with just the right note or voicing of a chord when needed." - Lois Moody, Ottawa Citizen (live performance with vocalist Anne-Marie Moss, Cock & Lion, 1984)
"Smooth, harmonically sophisticated solos." - Jon Pareles, New York Times ("Heatwave" broadcast with saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera Quintet, PBS-TV, 1985)
"One can tell it's a master's work. His music talks to us of things to come." - Ertugrul Kayseriloglu, Metronom (live performance of Essence led by Armen Donelian, Bilsak Jazz Festival, Turkey, 1986)
"A masterpiece...an open door to evolutionary jazz." - Bernard Rabaud, Swing Jazz Journal (A Reverie CD by Armen Donelian, 1987)
"One of the great unsung piano trio recordings of the 80's...strongly recommended, especially to those who favor piano trios." - Robert J. Iannopollo, Cadence (Trio '87 CD by Armen Donelian)
"The spirit of adventure that breathes in this enterprise releases ephemeral currents and raises each theme to the level of epic musicality. The jazz attained here hints at even more than it tells." - Francois Lacharme, Jazz Hot Critics' Poll #3 Album of the Year (Secrets CD by Armen Donelian, 1988)
"Donelian's mastery of writing for small group is startling...exceptional...a provocative modernist." - Chuck Berg, Lawrence Journal-World (The Wayfarer CD by Armen Donelian, 1990)
"Donelian mesmerized the audience." - Nancy Kalajian, Armenian Mirror-Spectator (live performance of Armen Donelian Trio, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 1998)
"Donelian's technique and interpretation are superb and made a deep impression on Armenian Jazz fans." - Nika Babaian, NAB Artists Management (live solo piano performance, Yerevan Chamber Hall, Armenia, 1999)
"On the pianist's recent album, Wave (Sunnyside), Armen Donelian has pared down his considerable technique in favor of a dramatic lyricism that, in pieces as old-hat as "All of Me" and as unlikely as "Our Day Will Come" and a couple of Beatles ballads, he sustains with controlled and expressive poetry." - Gary Giddins, Village Voice (Wave CD by Armen Donelian, 2001)
"On his recent Mystic Heights, he applies that same balance [as on Wave] between tension and release to a program of sensitive originals." - Gary Giddins, Village Voice/Voice Choices (2002)
