JOHN HODIAN BRINGS ARMENIAN AND WATERTOWN ROOTS TO THE "EPIPHANY PROJECT"
By Chris Bergeron
Watertown TAB & Press
99198305/John-Hodian-brings-Armenian-and-Watertown -roots-to-the-Epiphany-Project
March 16 2009
FRAMINGHAM – In Greek, the word "epiphany" means "showing forth" and
is the name for a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation
of the infinite in human form.
When you hear Bet Williams sing as John Hodian plays piano, you’ll
understand why the only name they could have given their musical
collaboration in 1992 was the Epiphany Project.
After several years traveling and playing in Hodian’s ancestral
homeland of Armenia and the primitive Caucasus region, they recorded
their third CD "Hin Dagh" which means "Sacred Words."
Like musical alchemists, they have transformed sacred texts from
several ancient faiths into music of haunting beauty.
Appearing for the first time in the Boston area, Hodian and Williams
will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at Amazing Things Art
Center in Framingham.
Hodian described the music of Epiphany Project as a "high energy,
dramatic fusion of folk, rock, jazz and world music unlike anything
most people have ever heard before."
"When we perform live, our music is a unique thing with a tremendous
amount of energy. It’s spiritual but not esoteric. Bet is very dynamic
on stage so our shows are very theatrical," he said.
Accompanied by percussionist Mal Stein, they’ll play music from
all their CDs in a two-set show with a brief intermission. Hodian
estimated about 60 percent of their songs will be in English.
Williams stressed,"It’s not some heady stuff you need to know several
languages to enjoy….Our music is energetic and fun, with a real
beauty and good feeling. Sometimes in this modern world we feel a
certain beauty that can be very poignant," she said.
Whether you dig barbershop quartets, baadasss urban rap or Bob Dylan
whining through his nose, the genre-busting sound of "Hin Dagh"
has something for anyone moved by the magic of pure music.
Accompanied on the new CD by Hodian and Armenian musicians on
traditional instruments, Williams uses her four-octave voice to
infuse 12 songs with heartfelt emotion ranging from scorching heat
to soaring ecstasy.
Unless you’ve visited the markets of Yerevan, Armenia, or the bazaars
of the Holy Land, you haven’t heard music like theirs.
Williams sings poems, prayers and laments in dead and dying languages
including Aramaic, Sanskrit, ancient Welsh and Avestan, the Iranian
dialect used to compose hymns of the ancient Zoroastrian religion.
Friends and scholars provided Williams with phonetic translations of
ancient Persian prayers, verse by Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents,
an Aramaic interpretation of the Beatitudes, stanzas from the Hindu
Bhagavad Gita and even a fragment from the gnostic scrolls of Nag
Hammadi.
"We didn’t set out to make ancient texts into a CD. But I’ve always
loved Middle eastern music. Its folk songs can be fascinating, so
earthy. They have such a power of expression," she said.
Married for seven years, Hodian and Williams exemplify the same
creative fusion of styles found in their music.
Hodian grew up in Philadelphia "100 percent Armenian" with a father
from Watertown. As a child, he studied classical and jazz piano and
composition and later earned a master’s degree from Philadelphia
College of Performing Arts. He has written scores for dance companies
and chamber ensembles, earned an Emmy for a documentary movie
soundtrack and created a musical theater piece that toured Europe
for a year.
An Army brat who grew up in Virginia and Germany, Williams said she
was "always the girl with the guitar." She had formal voice lessons,
studied poetry at Penn State University and eventually gravitated
toward songwriting and musical theater.
Music critics have compared Williams’ voice to Joni Mitchell and Tori
Amos and Hodian’s piano skills to Philip Glass. The Washington Post
described Epiphany Project as "a hybrid of world music, art song,
Americana and avant-garde folk; utterly uncategorizable but always
transcendentally beautiful."
Widely popular in Europe, they played this winter for the first
time in six years to American audiences in New York; Philadelphia;
Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Diego;and Santa Barbara, Calif.
They hope their Framingham performance wins them new fans.
Drawing upon his jazz background, Hodian said "the best thing is not
to rehearse" when performing live.
"What interests me is the interplay of improvisation," he said. "I
like to feel we’re creating it fresh. I like to be pulling it out
for the moment."