Reviews & Stories

New York - Avery Fisher Hall
Dallas Brooks Hall - Wendy Owen
Centennial Concert Hall - Easter Sunday - Silvio Dobri - Tribune Staff Writer

 

New York - Avery Fisher Hall   Click on image for link to full review
Herbie Mann - Mann's 'Family" Floors Fisher Crowd
    Mann's music is "busier" these days - there is more going on with each instrument, probably too much to absorb in one listening.  While Mann himself remains the focal point of the group, it is Armen Halburian who steals the show and is obviously the catalyst in the new Mann sound. 
    Halburian is loosely labeled a percussionist, but that seems a piddling term for what he actually does onstage.  For one, he surrounds himself with a dizzying cornucopia of instruments - bells. gongs, chimes, drums, whistles and several other exotic items that one does not expect to see every night on the concert stage.  But the genius of Halburian lies in his impeccable timing.   Often were the moments when he appeared totally absorbed in playing a drum and suddenly - like an expert wishbone quarterback executing the triple option - he would make his move, flicking out a hand to strike a chime or ring a bell. One beat later it wouldn't have worked.  The sound would have been out of synch with the mood. 
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Dallas Brooks Hall  Click on image for link to full review

But the show was nearly stolen by the incredible one-man percussion band of Armen Halburian who with a forbidding array of instruments managed to keep four rhythms going simultaneously with both hands, his torso and his head.   Top

 

 

 

Centennial Concert Hall   Click on image for link to full review

The packed Centennial Concert Hall thundered with applause on Easter Sunday as Herbie Mann and his Family of Mann concluded a 90-minute concert.  The performance was the first of a series of three jazz concerts scheduled here over the next month and a half.
    While Sunday's performance may have belonged to Mann, percussionist Armen Halburian came close to stealing the show.  Halburian became the crowd favorite during an extended percussion solo when he was able to demonstrate his virtuosity with bells, chimes, cymbals, cowbells and an assortment of other beatable items. 
 
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