The Call Within is pianist
Tigran Hamasyan's fourth
Nonesuch long-player, the follow-up to 2017's acclaimed solo outing
An Ancient Observer. Performed with electric bassist
Evan Marien and drummer
Arthur Hnatek, the set's title conjures images of introspection, but that's a wide-ranging notion in the pianist's psychogeography. For him, this is a journey into his dreamlike inner world, where lifelong interests in maps from different eras, poetry, Armenian folk stories, astrology, geometry, ancient Armenian design, rock carvings, and cinematography all share inner terrain in an astonishing exploration of sound and composition. Unlike its predecessor,
The Call Within is far from gentle meditations, though it too is profoundly spiritual.
Hamasyan calls this music "electro-acoustic Armenian rock," and he's not far off, but he's as subject to its diverse musical forces as the listener.
Opener "Levitation 21" commences with a gently repetitive chord pattern adorned by triple-time drumming and pulsing bass. The pianist counters with a knotty, syncopated head, and sings in droning wordless tones while sprinting across the upper register. "Our Film" features guest vocalist
Areni Agbabian and cellist
Artyum Manukyan (both longtime collaborators). It resembles an opening-credits theme, moving through episodic themes and motifs.
Hamasyan grafts on loops, synths, and electronic drums, coloring the proceeding with warmth and humor for all the pyrotechnics. "Ara Resurrected" is its mirror image. Commencing with rolling synths and rim shots,
Hamasyan then stridently engages progressive jazz with his grand piano in scalar improvisation in a dazzling sprint with the rhythm section. "Space of Your Existence" careens across time signatures and chromatic extensions as post-bop collides with prog.
Hnatek signals each sea change with furious rim shots and clattering breaks. "Old Maps" is dreamlike thanks to the
Varduhi Art School Children's Choir. The simple arrangement of this folksy composition is rendered transcendent by their presence. "Vortex" features guitar hero
Tosin Abasi (
Animals as Leaders) in a commanding fusion of djent-like prog metal to syncopated yet interlocking grooves that recalls
U.K. with
Allan Holdsworth. "37 Newlyweds" is as a tenderly conceived processional that draws on Armenian sacred music with moody, minor-key lyricism and modal interrogations.
Hamasyan's chanted, multi-tracked vocals suggest the influence of
Komitas, adorned by shimmering synths and delicate piano loops, and underscored unintrusively by the bassist and drummer. "New Maps" closes with staggered rhythms, cascading electronics, and resonant piano. The latter instrument riffs on the chord changes, adding dimension to the already incendiary dynamic.
Hamasyan has made a record for the ages with
The Call Within. It registers among his most musically sophisticated and expansive yet never forsakes listenability.
Herbie Hancock once stated that
Hamasyan was now his teacher. Evidenced by what is on display here, he wasn't engaging in hyperbole. ~ Thom Jurek
