“We all have roots, and it’s not easy to uproot. After uprooting, it is similarly difficult to get it back into the soil and nourish it… You should have the right environment, otherwise the roots would dry out,” these are the words of the Soviet jazz queen, Tatevik Hovhannisyan. The singer is already in Yerevan, and started from June 28, her concerts in Armenian will commence. The singer’s first concert will take place on June 28 in the “Yans” music club in Yerevan, and the second one will take place on June 30 at the Gyumri Drama Theater after Achemyan, then, on July 2, she will give her first concert in Stepanakert, and on July 4, her last concert for this year will be held in the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater after Al. Spendiaryan. Today, during the meeting with the journalists, T. Hovhannisyan said that she will perform Armenian folk music in jazz style, as well as American and Brazilian music. She will perform already famous and popular songs, as well as completely new ones, which will be first played in Armenia. “When I went to the U.S., there was no Armenian music in my repertoire, says the singer, I was singing American and Brazilian jazz standards. Of course, folk music is not alien to me. My father and especially my mother, Ofelia Hambardzumyan, always fed me with this music, and I’ve grown with it. This music walked with me for years and has deeply rooted in my heart. And when I went to the United States, an idea occurred to my mind, to connect these two worlds. It is natural, because when you leave your country, homesickness becomes more, everything becomes sweeter, and at that time, I decided that our wonderful, deep rooted music can be combined with other deep rooted music.” T. Hovhannisyan does not think that going to the United States has made her a jazz queen. “Let it not sound immodest, but I went from here as a queen, she says, but I appreciate my going, because I had not gone to become a star, I went to learn more, because my music is jazz, and now I am in the best place for jazz music. I learn something from every one. The growth is very important for me. And whether this growth would be here, it’s a question.” The singer has not been in the homeland for six years, and during this and previous years’ changes in Yerevan are not quite to her liking. “The then Yerevan is the history of my life. How can I like this Yerevan more than that one? There are changes that are commendable, and vice versa, there are other things that are not commendable, says T. Hovhannisyan, I wish we had preserved what we were distinguished from others and what is unique to us, our culture, architecture, traditions and so on. It makes no sense to be a European city, of which there are hundreds. I wish we had not become so xenophile. I wish the names of stores or restaurants were written not in big letters in English, and the Armenian in much smaller letters or with no Armenian letter, but on the contrary. We should be proud that we have a very unique language, a wonderful ancient culture. Let’ not forget it. Eventually, we should not be so European.”
Siranush HAYRAPETYAN
