Album Reviews

Trying to describe in simple words the sound and scale of a beautifully crafted new progressive rock work from a multi-disciplinary composer presents a number of journalistic challenges — but we’re up to the task. The work in question is a new 2LP deluxe box set by Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan titled The Bird of a Thousand Voices. A winner of many global music awards and the receiver of accolades from no less than the late Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Brad Mehldau, Hamasyan takes the listener on quite an impressive journey on this far-reaching double album.

From Hamasyan’s site, we learn that Bird has been “inspired by an ancient Armenian tale in which a hero travels into unseen realms to find and bring back a mythical bird — whose thousand different songs will awaken people again and bring harmony to the world.” This 2LP super deluxe box set package — which was released on August 30, 2024, by French label Naïve Records — is both eye and ear popping in its presentation and sonic execution. Many key LP DNA points were found not only on the inside portion of the box set’s front cover, but also on the artist’s accompanying, and quite elaborate, companion site (wherein you can check out the credits and other related stats in full here).

Given that the album was (deep breath) “Recorded in Benaji Studio, in Laguna, CA in March 2020, at home in Venice, CA in 2020, at a friend’s house in Water Village, CA in 2021, at Wave Recording in November 2021, Kerseboom studio, and at a hotel in Luxembourg in November 2019,” we think there is a pretty good likelihood this music was made in the digital domain. Mostly mixed by Nate Wood — who also plays drums on the album — and Tigran Hamasyan, The Bird of a Thousand Voices was mastered by noted engineer Sander Van Der Heide (Burt Bacharach, The Beau Hunks, Jan Akkerman, Rammstein, etc.). While we haven’t yet found out specifically where the album was manufactured and pressed, we do know it was made in France, which narrows the field a bit.

The seemingly standard-weight vinyl pressing of this 2LP set is quiet and well-centered. That latter detail is especially important for music like this that features many keyboard sounds, from piano to synthesizers — all of which would suffer from any wavering, especially in the more hushed, intimate moments. The SRP for The Bird of a Thousand Voices 2LP box starts at $65.50 (and it can be ordered via this link), and it easily earns its entry fee. The 2LPs come housed in a gorgeous hard-box format package, and each disc comes in its own audiophile-grade plastic-lined inner sleeve, both of which are then double-protected by a cardboard inner album jacket. Each inner cover features a maze game, which we assume represent the journey taken by the protagonist in the story. Additionally, three included booklets of varying sizes share further aspects of the album’s concept and its imagery. This all ties in neatly with other elements in this multimedia project, which includes a free videogame you can play on Hamasyan’s site.

A very long detailing of the full The Bird of a Thousand Voices story can be found at Hamasyan’s site in both English and Armenian. In short, it is based on a traditional Armenian tale involving a young Prince’s quest for a mystical bird as a metaphor for our present times as our diverse cultures come together in the face of a multitude of global-impacting crises. More information about certain aspects of the storyline can be found in the YouTube videoclip below.

From the site, we learn more about that underlying storyline: “The mythological bird appears in many different cultures and often symbolizes resurrection and awakening. In the Armenian tradition, its power is found in its song. In order to find the Bird of a Thousand Voices, ‘the path of no return’ must first be taken through black, white, and red worlds with endless deserts, cold mountain winters, turbulent rivers and hunted by condemnations, betrayal, and forty-headed demons.” (There is also a full-on stage production of Bird, which you can preview here.)

The music on both The Bird of a Thousand Voices LPs contained many surprises for this reviewer. When I first looked on the interwebs for more information on Hamasyan (whom I had admittedly not listened to, prior to this release), I learned that he had also recorded for the Verve, ECM, and Nonesuch labels over the years. But I was a little puzzled by one site’s description of him as “an Armenian jazz pianist and composer [. . .] strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities.”

When I put The Bird of a Thousand Voices on my turntable, I was thus surprised to hear music that instead took me on a journey back to the 1970s peak of classic progressive rock as created by bands like Genesis, Gentle Giant, Renaissance, Yes, and King Crimson, albeit by way of Cirque du Soleil, and with perhaps periodic echoes of edgier groups like Henry Cow (with haunting singer Dagmar Krause).

Most curiously for me, some of the headier runs of music here on Bird remind me of no less than one of my all-time favorite underdog prog rock bands: Happy The Man! A group that only released two LPs in their brief time on Arista — August 1977’s eponymous debut, and September 1978’s excellent followup, Crafty Hands, plus numerous archival releases issued in their aftermath — Happy The Man’s sound was sculpted by the richly inventive synthesizer textures of keyboardist and primary composer Kit Watkins.

Musical touchstones like those noted above are not a bad thing in my book, especially when they pay tribute to a form or particular artist, consciously or otherwise. And I truly appreciate an artist like Tigran Hamasyan who can clearly transcend the generations to effortlessly cross boundaries between musical genres by blending ideas past and present into something that sounds somehow futuristic. Indeed, that was one of the appealing notions of so-called jazz fusion and progressive rock in its earliest phases, when artists effectively mashed up classical, jazz, rock, choral, and folk forms into a heady brew all its own.

And in these days of at-times disposable and often interchangeable-sounding TikTok-driven, sample-heavy pop confections, it’s refreshing to hear new music like that of The Bird of a Thousand Voices, which sounds lush, expansive, organic, and remarkably well-produced. While it will be hard at this stage to pull out any one particular track as a favorite, my ears instantly began connecting with the music on “Red, White and Black Worlds” (LP1, Side B, Track 11), making me not only want to listen to its completion but also play it yet again, start to finish. (This is a good thing indeed, folks.)

Other tracks like “Areg and Manushak (He Saw Her Reflection in the Water)” (LP1, Side B, Track 7) touch on the hushed intimacy of England’s wonderful progressive rock band Renaissance, and all that their celestial singer Annie Haslam tapped into. It is on songs like this one where the ties to what I assume to be older Armenian musical themes are most apparent (at least to this listener). You can feel that crossroads in action via Hamasyan’s vocalese-driven “Only the One Who Brought the Bird Can Make It Sing” (LP2, Side C, Track 1), reminding me of how Pat Metheny brought Brazilian themes to life when singer Nana Vasconcelos was added into the Pat Metheny Group on their May 1982 Grammy-winning LP on ECM, Offramp.

The whimsical whistling and haunting melodies on “Flaming Horse and the Thunderbolt Sword (From the Depths of the Sea)” (LP1, Side B, Track 10) brought to mind some of the more introspective moments from Chick Corea’s under-appreciated 1978 concept LP on Polydor, The Mad Hatter. (Brief aside: That LP contains arguably one of Corea’s finest compositions and recordings, “Humpty Dumpty” [Side 1, Track 4].)

Indeed, melody continues to draw me into the Bird recording and the ideas of Tigran Hamasyan the artist, such as the gorgeous album closer “Postlude (After Seven Winters)” (LP2, Side D, Track 12). Additionally, “Areg’s Calling (Towards the World Above)” (LP1, Side A, Track 4) recalled some of the moodier collaborations between John Cale and Brian Eno. (It’s not all slam-in-your-face shredding here, mind you.)

Perhaps the words of the artist himself can help us to fully appreciate the rich intent of The Bird of a Thousand Voices (again, as culled from Hamasyan’s site): “This story tells me that, if we wish to change the world, we all will need to change individually. This typically Armenian tale was lesser known for ages, but I feel it’s time to present this particular story, with its universal message of spiritual awakening, to the world.”

All in all, I have very much enjoyed my initial journeys listening to Tigran Hamasyan’s The Bird of a Thousand Voices — and I plan on spinning it many, many more times. From the moment of opening the beautiful package to explore its cryptically intriguing contents unto the final notes of its full 2LP journey, this is a lovely epic worth diving into with an open mind and heart.

We can comfortably give Tigran Hamasyan’s The Bird of a Thousand Voices a 9 for both its Music and its Sound, as the execution is immaculate, and the overall sound is rich and rewarding. If you like complex, challenging music vibing vintage progressive polyrhythmic sounds along with international cross-current ties to the ancients, this fascinating new album should be on your radar — and on your turntable. Order your copy today.

Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for AudiophileReview.com, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.

TIGRAN HAMASYAN
THE BIRD OF A THOUSAND VOICES
2LP (Naïve)

Part One

LP1, Side A
1. The Kingdom
2. The Curse (Blood Of An Innocent Is Spilled)
3. The Bird Of A Thousand Voices
4. Areg’s Calling (Towards The World Above)
5. The Quest Begins

LP1, Side B
6. The Path Of No Return
7. Areg And Manushak (He Saw Her Reflection In The Water)
8. The Saviour Is Condemned
9. Guidance (Areg Meets Zaman)
10. Flaming Horse And The Thunderbolt Sword (From The Depths Of The Sea)
11. Red, White And Black Worlds
12. Bells Of Memory

Part Two

LP2, Side C
1. Only The One Who Brought The Bird Can Make It Sing
2. Prophecy Of A Sacrifice
3. The Demon Of Akn Anatak
4. Temptations (Follow The Luminous Feather)
5. Forty Days In The Realm Of Bottomless Eye (He Brings Light Into The Soil Of Evil)
6. He Refuses To Be Immortal (The Goddess Of Paradise Gives Him The Enchanting Bird)

LP2, Side D
7. The Return (Through Vast Deserts, Seas And Dark Mountains)
8. Betrayed By Brothers
9. The Well Of Death And Resurrection
10. Sing Me A Song When You Will Be At The Place Where All Is Bliss
11. The Eternal Birds Sings And The Garden Blooms Again
12. Postlude (After Seven Winters)