Early History
In the sixties Jag began traveling to the city of Gyumri, traditionally Armenia’s city of arts and one of the cultural centers of the Soviet Union. While there weren’t many people listening to rock music in Yerevan at the time, an underground scene seemed to be thriving in Gyumri. It was there that he began to find like-minded individuals and appreciators of the music he loved. He started jamming with Robert Kocharyan (not the former Armenian president) on bass, Suren Martirosyan on guitar, and Levon "Watts" Nouroyan on drums, calling themselves Angin Qarer ("precious stones", in the Armenian language), playing hard rock. They soon morphed into their folk "bard rock" style, arranging pieces by Komitas and moving on to their own original material, changing their name to Bambir. Performances and many albums followed and they toured Armenia, Russia, Europe and the United States. Members of the original band reunite for special concerts, and Jag continues to actively record and collaborate with local and international artists. He has been awarded by the Armenian Ministry of Culture for his achievements in Contemporary Armenian Music.
Read more about this topic: Bambir
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or history:
“Very early in our children’s lives we will be forced to realize that the “perfect” untroubled life we’d like for them is just a fantasy. In daily living, tears and fights and doing things we don’t want to do are all part of our human ways of developing into adults.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)
“... that there is no other way,
That the history of creation proceeds according to
Stringent laws, and that things
Do get done in this way, but never the things
We set out to accomplish and wanted so desperately
To see come into being.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)