Gasparyan is a great Armenian virtuoso of the duduk, a traditional wooden reed instrument that sounds fruity delicious with good reason, since it is made out of apricot wood. This Russian CD is a musical bowl of fresh apricots, a beautiful meditation recorded with an atmosphere that suggests everyone in the recording studio holding their breath during the entire session. Besides the duduk, the instrumentation consists of kemancha, kanoon, and dhol, all quite mysterious-sounding except the latter one, which is obviously something starving musicians wind up on. The master sets the tone for the program with a short solo entitled Black Sky, and then Alvard Mirzoyan performs his first Kemanche Solo; the instrument sounds like a violin, but looks like a shrunken banjo, and is played flat against the chest as if the player is a soldier on patrol, cradling his rifle. The improvised passages cleanly construct melodic patterns of great intricacy, then create ornate filigree and patterns of light all around them through strange bending and bowing techniques. There is another solo, titled exactly the same, occurring later in the program. There are several examples of tracks with identical titles in the program, making discussion of the individual pieces a bit awkward. Also, it is unusual the way two of the instruments are used for solo interludes, but not as part of an ensemble with Gasparyan. As a sequencing and editing device, it is extremely effective, as well as a generous and artistically intelligent decision by the leader. He creates great atmosphere and a fascinating flow by forsaking his spot at the center of the stage. By now, most listeners should be mesmerized, and if not, the vanquishing will be complete when the duduk master returns to the spotlight for a gorgeous piece with its title sort of translated as "Did I Born From the Stone." Male Folk Dance is where the CD starts cooking, and it is revealed that the dhol is a drum, producing both a low and high tone. The former is a subtle part of the mix, a bit like a foot tapping, while the latter has the naturally crisp sound of long fingers being tapped against the edge of a table. When heard alone on a solo drum spot, the instrument seems fuller, covering all possible sound areas as if rushing to get a wall painted, the impression fortified by the rapid playing that is at the front line of his improvisational advance. In either Folk Dance, the rhythmic banter supports Gasparyan blowing tremendous solos. He inhabits his own musical world, but comparisons can be made to John Coltrane, bagpipers, masters of the classical Indian flute, and the great old-timey fiddlers of Virginia, each a bouquet tossed out to a wonderful maestro. His playing on Sheppard's Love seems to literally shake one's insides. The single Kahoon Solo is the only appearance of this instrument on the record, an event that is so musically grand that a demand will be created for an entire kahoon recording, perhaps even a kahoon wing of the record collection. Alvard Mirzoyan is the artist who plays what seems like a relative of the autoharp as if scattering dragon teeth. There might be a question of the credits being incomplete. In the photographs of musicians on the booklet, there is one head unaccounted for among the instrumental credits, a large fellow playing something that looks like an alto clarinet. There is also a drone of some sort in the background of some of the pieces, but perhaps this is being created by Gasparyan himself. That wouldn't be surprising. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi

1		Black Sky
2		Kemancha Solo
3		Did I Born from the Stone
4		Male Folk Dance
5		Kanoon Solo
6		Black Night
7		Folk Dance
8		Dhol Solo
9		Sheppard's Love
10		Female Folk Dance
11		Kemancha Solo
12		Folk Dance

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