When you are a record collector, you get to bump into things where you are least expecting them. You also tend to find gems which may be remarkable. This record is surely one of those. Finding a record of Djivan Gasparyan is already hard in itself, but finding a test press seems like a miracle.
There are some people who were born for music. Djivan Gasparyan is surely one of this kind. His way of bringing folk music of the Caucasus and Anatolia has been truly remarkable and brought him worldwide fame. He is a master of the traditional woodwind which is also called "Duduk" in this region.
The album is Djivan Gasparyan's first. It was originally released from the Russian Melodiya Records in 1983 and than reissued via Land Records in 1989. What I have in my hand is the test press of the reissue.
The name of the album is "I Will Not Be Sad In This World". This is quite ironic as Anatolia and Caucasus are two regions of the world which has suffered thousands of years through invasions and struggles. His music on the album exceptionally pictures this longing for peace and solitude.
Even though the main genre of the album has to be listed as Folk Music and World Music, the way Gasparyan plays the Duduk is pretty much similar to the spacey rhythms of Jan Garbarek. However, the general feeling is much more depressive and emotional. This can derive from the sometimes excessive emotional states of the region he lives in.
Listening the record is a pleasure not many words can describe. I've listened to Gasparyan more than once in concerts, and sang some of the almost forgotten traditional Armenian and Turkish folk songs he brought back into life. Yet, this record has a special way with it. It may be that I have the advantage of being from the same culture. The album directly depicts the life in this region.
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