It's coming, I promise. For so long I had to set aside some other interests and artistic expression to focus on Juxtaposed, its promotion, etc. This bit of a break from, what was it, the zoo? the state fair? no, no, that's right, the circus ;-)  was much needed to make room for some writing, and other art.

Also, one must live to have something to write about, no?  So, the shapes these original compositions are taking are actually surprising me. Music I never thought would interest me seems to be having an influence. And, with the few arrangements of covers I'm tempted to strip down completely and rebuild as something almost unrecognizable.

I've said too much already.

Back to work…

Ever since I stepped aside, temporarily, from performing and promoting, etc, I've had time to reflect a bit. I realized that in the past few years I've come across some interesting personalities, and experiences. I must say, even a small amount of success or 30 seconds in the limelight can bring out interesting behavior in people. Both as the recipients of attention or as observers of it. 

What I'm having trouble justifying, or making some sense of is this matter of jealousy and envy that people express either directly or passively. It's by no means limited to the entertainment industry or to industry at all. I think it's all very personal. It seems some people just believe, genuinely, that they hold a right to be jealous of others for their successes or for being happy. Friend or stranger can blatantly resent, and feel entitled to do so, for no real reason. What is that about exactly? And, how could anyone not be embarrassed of being jealous?

As I understand it, it takes quite a bit of emptiness and misery within to feel envy. You have to be pretty unsatisfied with your own self to focus so much on others.  But where does the entitlement come from? Is it arrogance? And isn't arrogance a choice? I believe that ethics and morality are things we choose to include in our personalities. So, if you choose to be arrogant (which usually stems from ignorance) it's really no one's fault but your own, no? And if you are that miserable, so much so that you can't even love yourself enough to be fulfilled, who is stopping you from improving your own life?

So, I think, maybe, instead of hating on people who have what we want, one could direct that energy into improving their own self first. Learn to appreciate what you do have perhaps. In the end, we are each responsible for the world we create and the life we live.

And that's my two cents.

Thank you to everyone in Portland who came out to Abou Karim this past weekend! Many of you were unable to get tables, forced to stand to watch the performance. Be assured that we will be back in Portland, very soon, to make it up to you!

Thanks for making the evening a huge success!!

Much Love,

Sarine

SARINE BALIAN

JUXTAPOSED

Saucy Records

A heterogeneous but interesting compilation of songs for a special voice.

 Of Armenian descent and grown up in Lebanon in the 80's, Sarine Balian lives in the USA where she keeps in touch with her native community. She sings in the Armenian, English and Spanish language as she considers that a language is never enough to express what she as an artist is supposed to render. Thus, familiar Latin and jazz compositions coexist with a typical eastern melancholy free of references to ethnic commonplace. It proves her sound musical background perfection in terms of technique and the overall outcome is remarkable. Such a release should at least deserve a bit of a better production.

www.radiophone.gr

Naregatsi Art Institute opened a center in Shushi, Karabagh region of Armenia, a couple of days ago. As guests, we artists were invited to ride along to be there for the opening ceremony. I'd been in Armenia for less than two days and already was off  to Karabagh.

The drive took about eight hours in the mini van, by night we were arrived to a very dark and deserted Shushi. I have to say it was eerie at first, but we were so tired, we had dinner and went to bed at the Naregatsi volunteer house.

The next morning was the opening, and the events started with a choir of local youth, directed by a volunteer conductor who comes from Lebanon every summer to work with the choir. As the day went on I had an opportunity to take a walk with a local woman and some Naregatsi folks to her house for coffee. Calling the town deserted and empty is not an understatement. The center is located in the part of town that used to be mostly Turkish inhabitants. The Mosque is quite damaged and bombed out as are many of the buildings and streets in the area.

We walked past some kids playing with a crate on wheels, speeding down hill on a road that is mostly pot holes. They seemed to be having a great time. They also do that at night in the pitch dark. The area is a mix of very old stone roads and houses, and modern apartment buildings. Behind the sky line of the ruin roofs we noticed the rising of the towers of the Armenian Church.

The people of Shushi made the strongest impact on me so far. They live in the most basic, quite challenging conditions, but they live. The new generation of kids are incredibly beautiful and at the concert were so full of life and happy. They don't have internet, game boys, video games or even bikes, but they play anyway like kids always have. They were so open and welcoming, ready to smile and say hello, or talk like family.  No one seemed to be turned off by the fact that we were from elsewhere, they seemed to see us as kin. Which, unfortunately, isn't always the case among others.   

The peace and quiet in Shushi was inspiring. I hope to go again for a longer stay, it felt so much like home.

It's here!

To buy it go >>>  http://cdbaby.com/cd/sarinebalian

Juxtaposed : placed side by side

This debut album features Armenian folk songs and jazz standards of the Americas. Works by Cole Porter, Horace Silver and Antonio Carlos Jobim are among popular Armenian folk pieces in this collection. Sarine sings in Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Armenian and of course English, weaving languages and cultures of the world into a new cultural landscape.

Also among works performed with the jazz trio is a spoken word piece with saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh and bassist John-Carlos Perea created entirely through improvisation, based on the poem "Koyoutyunes" by Sarine's late uncle Hampartsoum Balian.  An entirely acoustic album, Sarine performs an original arrangement of Giligia with her father accompanied by cello and piano.

It wasn't until I worked on Corcovado with Sandy Cressman that I realized how much is lost in translation from Jobim's original lyrics to "Queit Nights of Quet Stars". During our session she translated the Portuguese lyrics for me, and I want to do them some justice.  So, in case you don't already know, or don't speak the language, here it is. See if you can find the quiet nights or the quiet stars anywhere...

Corcovado

a little cafe, a guitar
this love, a song
in order to make those who love happy
lots of  calm for thinking
and to have time for dreaming
from the window I see Corcovado
the Redeemer, how beautiful

I want life to always be like this
with you close to me
until the dying out of the old flame
and I who was sad
disbelieving in this world
in meeting you I knew
what happiness is, my love

I hadn't slept much the night before, partly because of my cold and the other part because I was arranging in my head.  I showed up at the studio and Jeff was setting up, soon after that Eugene showed up surprisingly alert. Maybe it was because I was sleep deprived?

I got behind the mic, in the "booth", and we did a few takes of Siroun Manoushag. I love this arrangment with bass. It was so cool on the demo to do it with Mas on the soprano sax, but this was cool too. Different. We knocked out some good versions of it, plenty to work with. And that was done. We chilled for a little bit, exchanged some jokes and Eugene was on his way.

Next was the a capella piece. I've only performed this live once or twice, so I wasn't sure what we would end up with. Just to be safe I did take after take, after take... I was surprised with the results when I heard it. Somewhere in the past three years my voice matured a lot. Or maybe I did.

After we finished with that it was about 30 minutes until Hafez and John-Carlos were suppose to start. So, I snuk out for a bite to eat and a little break. It's draining to sing those two pieces at least once, if not for a couple of hours.

John-Carlos was there when I got back, with his fretted bass already set up and ready to play. Soon after that Hafez arrived, joking his way down the stairs. It was cool to all be in the studio together. Jeff and Hafez are good friends, which was great to witness. Then to be in a creative space with JC and Hafez again was really nice. It had been a long time since the three of us were in the same room, let alone creating together. It  also felt like a sort of right-of-passage. (for lack of a better way to put it!) Until now I'd always been the student, the apprentice, the singer, etc. And now they were there for me. I appreciated their vote.

Again, I was sent back to the booth. With only a copy of my uncle's poem in front of me. My aunt had given me copies of two of my uncle's poems shortly after he passed in 1997. I didn't even know he was a poet. She also gave me a jacket of his and his record collection.

The first take was a little shakey, at least on my part, I hadn't read the poem for a long time, and reading in Armenian on top of all the emotions going through me I was a bit nervous. But Hafez is great at spinning the energy in a room and we did take after take. It's amazing really because each take is brilliant in its own way, and they're all very different. Mixing it is going to be a creative project in and of itself.