BEIRUT: Armenian jazz composer and musician Arthur Satyan first came to Beirut in 1996 for the grand opening of the Casino du Liban. He has performed in many venues around the country in the last 17 years and become a stalwart member of Beirut’s small but robust jazz community.
At the end of last month Satyan released his second album “ARTology” at Sin al-Fil’s Nova. Satyan spoke to The Daily Star about his new album and his long career in Lebanon.
Q: When did you start playing?
A: My whole family is composers. So I had no choice. If you go to Armenia and say “Satyan family” everyone knows them. It’s like the Rahbanis here but we are more into classical music. I started playing at a young age. My father used to do jazz music and my brother also. I knew lots of jazz names and music when I was 2 or 3 years old. I had no choice when I was a kid. I was surrounded by musicians.
I know lots of instruments and how to play them. This is how I studied in Armenia. The education there was fantastic and [teachers were] coming from [the] Russian school. You had to play violin. I was also a musical member in Armenia’s Chamber Theater. I was conducting the music there. I was studying saxophone, bass and drums. I was the music director for five, six years. But I’m more into composition.
Q: How was the jazz scene when you started playing in Lebanon? And how is it now?
A: The jazz scene was not super. They were more into fusion than traditional jazz. They were playing but it was not like it is now. There are some musicians who were in my class. They have an international level. They play be-bop, and different styles. So, there is a huge difference between before and now. Nowadays, it is much better. Definitely. You have drummers and guitar players ... international stars are coming and playing with them and they say “Wow!”
Now it is perfect. We have good musicians. The scene is small, you know.
Q: How many albums have you released?
A: This is my second album. I was a bit lazy with that. I was playing a lot. It’s not only about playing compositions; it is a whole repertoire of music. [For example,] you have to know a whole repertoire for piano. Same with jazz, you have to know around 300 classics in order to play jazz music. You put a lot of your life [into] learning how to play jazz and I’ve realized that I’ve done it a lot so why don’t I release some of my compositions? And now I think it’s time to produce my music.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Music/2013/Aug-21/228030-the-fine-art-of-arthur-satyan.ashx#ixzz2chqLvD5n
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
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