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Sayat-Nova: Songs Of My Ancestors
(2 CDs) ($24.98) - Disc 1 Solo Piano / Disc 2 Trio

-Although Donelian is respectful of the original melodies, he also appears largely unbound by the constraints of any particular musical approach, using the spare frame of Sayat-Nova's compositions more as a compass than a map. His expansive improvisations occupy a beautifully elusive place somewhere between the taciturn introspection of Erik Satie's Gnossiennes, the modal lamentation sof John Zorn's Masada songbook and the genial invention of Art Tatum's solo recordings. There are countless exquisitite moments to be found within these extended mediations. - Jesse Simon (Downbeat)

Leapfrog
(CD) - Quintet ($19.98)

-Hold on to your hat. This is an angular set of sitting down jazz that certainly doesn't take things lightly. Donelian and his crew know how to work up a sweat. - Chris Spector (Midwest Record)
-Light years beyond many other albums that wear the modern jazz label. - Dan Bilawsky (All About Jazz)
-A panorama of spacious arrangements, instrumental turn-taking and bounding euphony. - Hilary Brown, Editors' Pick (Downbeat)

Oasis
(CD) - Trio ($17.98)

-Oasis quickly establishes a high level of musical discourse and never falters from it. - Thomas Conrad (Jazz Times)
-Refreshingly free of stiffness or pretense. In a music market filled with choices, this recording is an oasis of honest, multifaceted, breathing music. - Francis Lo Kee (All About Jazz)

All Or Nothing At All
(CD)-Duo ($17.98)

-Luminous...Inspired...Complex...Haunting. - Thomas Conrad (Jazz Times)

Quartet Language
(CD) - Quartet ($17.98)

-An acrid alchemy festers among these players...bravely adventurous and breathlessly delicate. - Celeste Sunderland (All About Jazz/New York)

Grand Ideas, Vol. 1: Wave
(CD) - Solo Piano ($17.98)

-Dramatic lyricism...controlled and expressive poetry. - Gary Giddins (Village Voice)

Grand Ideas, Vol. 2: Mystic Heights
(CD) - Solo Piano ($17.98)

-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)

Grand Ideas, Vol. 3: Full Moon Music
(CD) - Solo Piano ($17.98)

-To improvise freely over the course of 14 selections is no easy task and Mr. Donelian pulls it off magnificently. - Kenny Barron (from the CD notes)
-A beautiful and personal recording. - Fred Hersch (from the CD notes)
-Moving but ultimately indescribable piano music. - Dick Hyman (from the CD notes)
-A kind of classical surrealism. - Kirk Nurock (from the CD notes)

The Wayfarer
(CD) - Sextet ($17.98)

...Downright haunting. - Kevin Whitehead (Downbeat)
-PICK OF THE MONTH...Irreducible in the game of influences. - Franck Berger (Monde de la Musique)
-This is important work. - David Dupont (Cadence)

Secrets
(CD) - Sextet ($17.98)

-CRITICS' POLL #3 JAZZ ALBUM OF 1988...Epic musicality. - Francois Lacharme (Jazz Hot)
-Donelian has clearly come of age as a composer, player and leader. - Krin Gabbard (Cadence)

Trio '87
(CD) - Trio ($24.98) (imported)

-One of the great unsung piano trio recordings of the 80's... Donelian's strongest release to date...Strongly recommended. - Robert Iannapollo (Cadence)
-Worth listening to from the first note to the last. - Roald Helgheim (Klassekampen)

A Reverie
(CD)-Solo Piano ($17.98)

-A masterpiece...an open door to evolutionary jazz. - Bernard Rabaud (Swing Jazz Journal)

Whole Notes: A Piano Masterclass
(Piano Book) ($31.98)

-Written in a conversational tone, Whole Notes: A Piano Masterclass is both a piano method book per se and, more importantly, a guidebook to accompany the reader’s personal journey into music. Posture, practicing, mental and physical health, using weight and force, economy of movement, and expression are some of the topics addressed.
Topics are amply explored through detailed piano arrangements of Armen Donelian’s compositions, and they are clearly connected to principles of music theory, rhythm, analysis, and composition as well as physics, anatomy, and holistic development.
These themes and principles are of universal interest to all musicians. As a practical inquiry, Whole Notes offers many options for creatively applying and integrating them for individual use. For this reason, the needs of non-pianists are also discussed.
Concerned with how as well as what to play, Whole Notes incorporates Armen Donelian's personal experience in the worlds of both composed and improvised music. They are treated not as two separate areas, but as multi-faceted expressions of universal musical sound phenomena that transcend categories because, as he says, "That is how I experience them.”
The 212-page book contains 73 photographs, numerous original compositions, musical examples, and technical exercises.

Training the Ear Vol. 2
(Jazz Ear Training Book + 4 CDs) ($59.98)

-TRAINING THE EAR VOL. 2 is targeted towards the specific aural needs of the student of intermediate level harmony with his/her advanced development mind. It is intended to provide a practical aural and theoretical foundation that enables the improviser to process more complex levels of music easily and confidently, and thereby to contribute to raising the standard of music pedagogy. (From the introduction by Armen Donelian)

Training the Ear Vol. 1
(Jazz Ear Training Book + 2 CDs) ($44.98)

-The most clearly organized and comprehensive package of its type. - Lewis Porter (Rutgers Annual Review of Jazz Studies)

Harem Girl
(Full Score + Parts - SATTB) ($19.98)

-Composed, performed and transcribed by Armen Donelian and arranged for Saxophone Quintet by Ed Neumeister.

Metropolitan Madness
(Full Score + Parts - Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, French Horn & Bassoon) ($19.98)

-Composed, performed and transcribed by Armen Donelian and arranged for Woodwind Quintet by Ed Neumeister.

Sheet Music

-Over 80 titles available. Click here to see the full list.

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