Ask Me No Questions

Djivan Gasparyan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Trad. Crossroads
• ASIN: B0000031FU
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,572 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #3 in Music > World Music > Europe > Eastern Europe > Armenia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Armenian heritage, April 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ask Me No Questions (Audio CD)

Jivan Gasparyan is the most famous duduk player in the world. His music has been much loved and adored for many years in Armenia and recognized throughout the world. Jivan Gasparyan's music travels deep into the roots of Ancient Armenian folklore music. The Genocide of the 1915 and the earthquake of 1988 had a big impact on his repertoire with the release of "I will not be sad in this world" album in 1989. At the same time Gasparyan collaborates with Peter Gabriel and the result was the award-winning music to the famous "Last Temptation of Christ" movie. He also collaborated with artists such as Lionel Richie, Michael Brooks, "Kronos Quartet" and recorded a number of soundtracks for different movies like Atom Egoyan's "Calendar", "Storm and Sorrow".

His "Ask Me No Questions" album once again travels into the deep historical heritage of Armenia. His sad melodies endowed with a beautiful sound of duduk (sometimes without any other accompaniment) are deep, melancholic and touching. Gasparyan includes more folklore in "Song of Gyumri" and "Maidens of karabagh", at the same time his Komitas Suite is a tribute to Vardapet Komitas, the famous Armenian composer who went insane after seeing the atrocities of 1915 genocide carried out by the Ottoman empire...END

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Musical streams of smoke curling up out of a pipe, November 22, 2004

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ask Me No Questions (Audio CD)

This is a lovely, serene, contemplative album. If you're unfamiliar with the duduk, at least for me, I'd describe it as having a hint of the biting tone that so many of the oboe-family instruments from Asia have, but crossed with that soft serenity of the species of Native American flute that R. Carlos Nakai plays. I love those oboe-family instruments that are all over Asia, but I know some people seem to feel they are too abrasively reedy. You won't feel that way about the duduk.

You're not going to dance or even tap your toes to this album. This disc is for sitting back and oozing into a couch or a bed and zoning-out. Just let it unfold around you in the dark as you think about whatever you need to think about.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sweet sweet duduk, May 28, 2007

By 

Ruth Kirchner (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ask Me No Questions (Audio CD)

i really like this album a lot. i also have "moon shines at night" which is beautiful and a bit melancholy. as well as "apricots from eden", which is a little more up-beat with drumming. this is kind of somewhere in between. more of a solo album with some really soothing, sweet tunes. i like using it while working during my massage therapy sessions because it's very relaxing and uplifting. it always amazes me every time i hear the duduk how a unique and expressive instrument it really is. you can always benefit from adding another album to your collection regardless of the artist :)