Artyom Manukyan

Review:

This is the two hundred sixteenth in a series of special Jazz on the Tube reviews of live stream performances.

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Jazz cellist Artyom Manukyan was born in Yerevan in Armenia where, due to his parents, he heard a great deal of jazz and classical music while growing up; on cello he emulated jazz bassists.

Manukyan studied classical cello at the State Conservatory, played jazz locally and performed with the Armenia Navy Band before moving to Los Angeles in 2010.

He has since worked as a session musician, a soundtrack composer, and performed with a wide variety of artists including Kamasi Washington, Melody Gardot, Peter Erskine, and Gretchen Parlato.

Pianist Vardan Ovsepian, who is also from Armenia, had extensive training overseas before studying at Berklee, and he has worked as a soloist and with such artists as Mick Goodrick, Peter Erskine, Jerry Bergonzi, and David Binney, leading several of his own CDs.

On their LiveStream of Sept. 3, 2020, Manukyan and Ovsepian perform their thoughtful originals in a set of mostly gentle cello-piano duets, playing in very complementary styles and creating music that is both creative and picturesque.

-Scott Yanow