Մասնակից:Гаро Тавитјан/Ավազարկղ

անգլ.՝ Garo Tavitjan was born on June 24, 1982 in Skopje. He is an international artist and award-winning drummer, composer, pianist, arranger and producer. He is a founder of the band Tavitjan Brothers and member of the band Garo and Paramecium. He was selected as one of the 500 best drummer's in the world according to the world’s greatest drummers community Drummerworld. The first Macedonian/Armenian artist and endorser of the largest companies for drum sticks and cymbals in the world called Zildjian, Vicfirth, Sonor, Roland, Cympad and Evans and the first Macedonian/Armenian drummer with concerts at the Blue Note, Nublu and Carnegie Hall in New York. He is the first drummer in the Balkan region to be published by the American magazine Modern Drummer, Drummerworld and Drum Talk TV. He has collaborated as author and performer with Mike Stern, Eric Marienthal, Frank Gambale, Oz Noy, Dave Weckl, Rhani Krija, Roseanna Vitro, Jazz Ambassadors, Morris Pleasure, Fernando Saunders, Clivia Tanisi, James East, Dean Brown, Larry Monroe, Lee Roy, Rade Serbedzija, Goran Bregovic, Josipa Lisac, Oliver Dragojevic, Oliver Mandic, Zeljko Bebek, Tereza Kesovija, Jelena Tomasevic, Zeljko Joksimovic, Goran Karan, Antonija Sola, Nina Badric, Hari Varasanovic, Zele Lipovaca, Elvis Stanic, Rundek, Stublic, Bebi Dol, Zeljko Mitrovic and many others. He is considered as one of the greatest drummers from the Balkan and European region and also known as a pianist, composer and producer. Garo has published  videos for the world renowned companies Zildjian, Vic Firth, Drummerworld, Evans, Cympad, Sonor, Modern Drummer, Drum Talk TV, Roland etc.

BIOGRAPHY

He started playing music at an early age. He completed his music education in Skopje where he studied piano and percussion instruments. He later received a scholarship from Berklee College in 2001 and a scholarship from the Volkwang University in Essen, Germany in 2002. Garo's first solo concert was at the age of 12 in Kurshumli An as a guest at Garabet Tavitjan's concert in 1994, but in the meantime Garo also performed in public performances and concerts at the primary and high school on the piano and percussion mostly classical music and later he became member of the symphony orchestra of his high school Ilija Nikolovski Luj. During that period he was active on the local scene where he played and collaborated with most of the renowned musicians at that time. In 1997, Garo had his first concert with the Jazz Rock group Garo and Paramecium, where he presented himself with a solo performance. He performed with this band for 10 years, recorded two albums - studio and live album with several reissues and took part in several tours as well as in several international performances as a soloist and as a member of the group. He performed at the Sava Center in 1998, in 2000 in Croatia in Saxo and Momiano, where he also performed with Dado Topic. In that period Garo presented himself with percussive backing tracks on which he plays on a modern set of drums as a kind of novelty in that period.

In 2003, Garo recorded his first solo album, Urban Groove and a video with the same name that aired on several national media as an instrumental hit.

In 2002, together with his brother Diran Tavitjan, he formed the group Tavitjan Brothers. Dragan Trajkovski played the bass with them. The formation issued a CD release / album that was recorded live at the 19'19 hall. The album was released by Paramecium Productions in 2003 and  and became part of the Sony Jazz International Competition where one of their compositions won and was included on the release.

In 2003 Garo released his solo album Exspressions for Aliance Records in the Netherlands.

Garo was later admitted to the Jazz Academy in Germany and used the short period to perform throughout Germany - Essen, Cologne (the cult Stadtgarden), several concerts in Düsseldorf in Schlachtof, then on a festival called "Open Sky". several other performances in Dortmund and other smaller cities. Later, Garo and the group Tavitjan Brothers performed at the Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Garo with Tavitjan Brothers (where the bassists Darko Muchev 2003-2006, Aleksandar Ikonomov 2006-2008 and Goran Geshovski from 2008-2015 were alternate members) continues with international concerts but also with solo performances.

In 2006 Garo released his second original solo album called Personal View, which received reviews in the renowned Austrian magazine Concerto with maximum ratings, as well as in several Serbian and Croatian portals, including Barricade. The album receives an award for jazz album of the year at the Golden Ladybug event and also the first award of its kind in Macedonia. The guests on the album were the renowned guitarist from Italy Andrea Palazzo, Diran Tavitjan, Georgi Sharevski, Vladimir Vasilevski Chetkar, Kaliopi, Eva, Garabet Tavitjan, Aleksandar Ikonomov, Vasko Bojadziski, Darko Muchev, Zlatko Crvenkovski and Vasil Hadzimanov. Garo with Tavitjan Brothers also performed in New York at the Macedonian Cultural Center MC Gallery (in 2008), also at the legendary Jazz club The Blue Note (in 2010) with two performances. He is the first drummer from Macedonia to perform at the Blue Note. On that occasion, Garo and Diran were invited to the United Nations.

Garo also performed his own concert in the most prestigious hall in the world in downtown New York, The Carnegie Hall (in 2014) as Tavitian Brothers, making him the first drummer from the region to perform there. After the concert at Carnegie Hall, Garo and Diran became honorary members of the American World Humanitarian Organization Carver and VR One Voice. He played concert at the jazz club Nublu (2010), VPM concert hall, Drummers Collective, etc. These concerts are followed by the Jazz Times (US), Jazz Corner, Deli, Don New York, Mirror Spectator News magazines, Concerto, All About Jazz, Jazz Dimensions, Russian music magazine (life long expedition), Top Guitar Magazine (Poland), Jazz’n’more (Switzerland), L’express (France), Jazzitalia, Armtimes (Armenia),Новое Време etc.

Garo holds a Balkan tour with solo concerts at the Philharmonic Hall in Nis, performances at Atelier 212, concerts in Belgrade, jazz festivals throughout Serbia, concerts in Sabac, Kikinda, Novi Sad, Valjevo, several times at the drum festival in Leskovac, the Belgrade concert hall Sava Center with his group Tavitjan Brothers as well as at the Slovenian Cankarjev dom.

Garo travels to America as a guest of Maurice Pleasure (known as Michael Jackson pianist and music director of Earth, Wind and Fire, Janet Jackson and Ray Charles) and is invited along with Diran Tavitjan to be part of a Michael Jackson tribute project. Garo leaves for Atlanta where he records a video / audio recording at the cult studio Southern Tracks for the same project.

Garo is a guest on Diran Tavitjan's album, which was recorded in New Jersey in 2008 at the Mozart studio, and it was rated with the highest rating in the renowned Austrian magazine Concerto. After recording the album in New Jersey on Diran Tavitjan's album, Garo with his band Tavitjan Brothers organized a concert in Skopje at the universal hall. It is the first independent sold-out jazz concert in Macedonian history and later it was awarded as the concert of the year at the Golden Ladybug event.

In 2009 he realized his third album entitled Macedonian Rhythms and Improvisations, which was rated with a maximum of 5 stars in the world-famous Austrian magazine Concerto.

In 2007 Garo with Diran Tavitjan and Garabet Tavitjan created a project called Macedonian Heart Beats in 7/8 with Macedonian traditional songs and the official release came out in 2009 for Paramecium Production, City Records and Croatia Records and later the same release came out for the needs. The project consists of 2 parts and the guests are Balkan legends  Josipa Lisac, Goran Bregovic, Oliver Dragojevic, Aki Rahimovski (Parni Valjak), Tereza Kesovija, Sergej Cetkovic, Nina Badric, Jelena Tomasevic, Massimo Savic, Zeljko Joksimovic, Goran Karan, Vlatko Lozanovski, Esma Redzepova, Risto Samardziev, Karolina Goceva, Kaliopi Bukle, Antonija Shola, Miki Jovanovski Dzafer, Petar Rendzov, Damjan Pejcinoski, Aleksandar Jovevski etc.

One single from this project was also on the compilation release called Macedonia Forever and their adaptation of Eleno Kerko with Massimo Savic was released on a compilation by Croatia Records in 2010, followed by their adaptation of Kalino Mome with Josipa Lisac on her anthology entitled Collaborations and Ethno. Also their collaboration with Zeljko Bebek was published on his Anthology called Bebek 40, as well as on his edition called Duets by Croatia Records. Also World Music release by Croatia Records.

This project was realized with a concert at the city stadium in Skopje (arena Filip II) in 2012 with 70,000 visitors on the occasion of the Independence Day, organized by Paramecium Production and the Ministry of Culture. Garo also performed at the opening of the stadium in 2009 with Garabet and the Tavitjan Brothers and with a solo performance together with Garabet Tavitjan on drums. This event was attended by 40,000 visitors. Garo along with Diran Tavitjan in 2014 appeared as a special guests at the city stadium at the concert of Zeljko Joksimovic in front of 65.000 visitors. They also appeared at two concerts of Oliver Dragojevic in the Boris Trajkovski Hall.

Garo became ambassador of Ford automobiles in 2009.

Garo with Tavitjan Brothers had several tours in Macedonia including concerts at the Bitola Cultural Center, Tumbe kafe, Ancient Theater Heraclea, Prilep Cultural Center, Prilep Jazz Weekend and Prilep Beer Festival, several times during the Ohrid Summer, solo concert of the Ancient Theater , several guest appearances at other concerts at the Ancient Theater, concerts in Struga, concert at the Cultural Center in Kumanovo, several times at the Jazz Festival in Kumanovo and several concerts at the Tetovo Cultural Center, concerts in Gostivar, a concert tour called Telekom Tour with Macedonian Artists in 2001 on more than 20 full squares throughout Macedonia. Garo in Skopje held 7 performances in the Boris Trajkovski Hall, several performances at the city stadium, several performances at the ARM Philharmonic Hall, concerts at the Universal Hall, 6 concerts at the town square, Skopje Fair, Macedonian Philharmonic, MOB, Museum of the City of Skopje, Vega Club , Colosseum, Marakana, Hard Rock, Mkc, Kurshumli An, Kapan An, Suli An, concerts at the Macedonian National Theater, performances at the Drama Theater, salon 19'19, Choir Hall Ilija Nikolovski Luj, etc. He held concerts in England at the Halo and Posk halls in London with Tavitjan Brothers and continued with concerts in Switzerland, Italy, Poland, France, Norway, Armenia, America, Germany, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Albania, Serbia, Austria, etc.

As a studio musician he composed original songs for a number of singers and made arrangements and productions  in collaboration with artists such as Rade Serbedzija, Zele Lipovaca (Divlje Jagode), Doc Hayne (Germany), Lars Johansson. Eda Zari, Fernando Saunders (Lou Reed), Mo Pleasure (Michael Jackson), Rani Krija (Sting), Roseanna Vitro (America), Mike Rosen, Zeljko Bebek, Josipa Lisac and he is co-author and arranger of the song Za Nas (Darko Gelev Brejk/Nokaut), co-author and arranger of Probudi se na cas (Oliver Mandic) dedicated to Tose Proeski, co-author and arranger of Trafika Mala (Tamara Todevska, Igor Dzambazov, Fic and Nikola Perevski) author of Tivka Nok ( Andrijana Janevska and Eva Nedinkovska), arranger of several songs by Rebeka Jankovska Ristevska, co-arrangement of Tvoja bi bila (Tijana Dapcevic), composer and arranger of songs for M2 Production, Gjoko Taneski, Chedomir, Ramiz Jusufi Ciki, Miki Jovanovski Djsfer, Eva Nedinkovska, complete album for Aleksandra Pileva, Album with Rhani Krija (Sting/Peter Gabriel), arranger of songs of the project Makedonsko Srce cuka in 7/8  sung by Sergej Cetkovic, Karolina Goceva, Goran Bregovic, Aki Rahimovski, Antonija Shola, Vlatko Lozanovski and songs for many other artists. In 2012, Garo received the Producer of the Year award at the Golden Ladybug event.

Garo is also the producer and arranger of the anthem of the world guru Mohanji (Re-Imagine) along with Diran Tavitjan.  lyrics and music were made by Jelena Fassbender and Bojana Fabel, and the video was made by Steven Spielberg's film editor Alan Holzman. He is also a co-producer and co-arranger of the anthem of the Autistic Association called in My World composed by Diran Tavitjan and a co-producer of the project by Tanja Stankovic Dimovska with Christmas carols sung by the most famous Macedonian singers  Karolina, Nikola Perevski, Andrija , Maja Grozdanovska Panceva, Stevo Cepisevski, Tanja Kocovska, Igor Dimovski, etc. Garo is the author, arranger and performer of compositions featuring world jazz legends and Grammy winners Eric Marienthal, Morris Pleasure, Mike Stern, Oz Noy, Frank Gambale, Rani Krija, Fernando Saunders, etc.

Garo is the author of the music for the play Alexander the Great directed by Ljubisa Georgievski and the play Donnie Dark directed by Robert Ristov.

In 2012, Garo together with Goran Siljanovski crafted the first Macedonian snare drum made of Macedonian Woods Cherry and Walnut. The snaredrum was handcrafted  by Goran himself and his brand (GS Handcraft) and carries the signature of Garo Tavitjan .

In 2013, Garo became an artist of Mezzo Production and a member of the Armenian Jazz Association, with which he collaborated on concerts in Armenia at the Meco Classic House, a concert at the Aram Khachaturian Philharmonic Hall, a concert at the Cascades in front of 8000 visitors, concerts at the Jazz clubs, etc. Mezzo Production also released a compilation album featuring Garo with Tavitjan Brothers on the same release along with Placido Domingo jr, Arto Tuncboyacian etc. In 2015, Garo and Diran entered at the Mezzo`s Hall of Fame in Armenia and became European Ambassadors of Jazz. In 2013, Garo created the Play Classics project with Tavitjan Brothers, with which he performed concerts all over Europe and America, they released the album for their label and for Croatia Records. The project featured classical composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Khachaturian, Paganini and Debussy in jazz arrangement in irregular rhythms created by Garo while harmonic arrangements were made by Diran Tavitjan. With this project he performed at the Sofia Philharmonic Hall with a chamber orchestra under the baton of Bedroz Papazian and also in the Ljubljana Philharmonic Orchestra together with the Cantabile Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marjan Grdadolnik as well as at several concerts in Europe. in 2016 Garo and Diran received the International Success of the Year award from the Golden Ladybug event. Garo also releases music and albums for Vertical Jazz from Serbia. In 2019 Garo became artist and endorser for the world`s greatest cymbal, drumheads and drumsticks company called Zildjian, Evans and Vicfirth which are as a gigantic companies from USA in the whole world. Garo also became global ambassador and endorser for Sonor drums, Roland electric drums and Cympad cymbal washers.

DISCOGRAPHY

1. Garo and Paramecium - Abre Makedonche (Matav 2001)
2. Garo and Paramecium - The Best of 2CD (Paramecium 2005)
3. Garo and Paramecium - Best of (Vertical Jazz Serbia)
4. Garo and Paramecium - Summer Jazz Festival Kumanovo 1999
5. DSG trio - (Paramecium 2002)
6. Tavitjan Brothers trio (Paramecium 2003)
7. Tavitjan Brothers Live (Vertical Jazz Serbia 2016)
8. Tavitjan Brothers - Play Classics (Paramecium 2014)
9. Tavitjan Brothers - Play Classics (Croatia Records 2014)
10. Tavitjan Brothers - Play Classic Orchestra (Vertical Jazz Serbia)
11. Diran Tavitjan - Treasure (Paramecium 2008)
12. The Macedonian Heart beats in 7/8 1 part (Paramecium 2008)
13. Macedonian Heart beats in 7/8 1 part (City Records 2009)
14. Macedonian Heart beats in 7/8 1 part (Croatia Records 2010)
15. The Macedonian heart beats in 7/8 part 2 (Paramecium 2011)

SOLO ALBUMS

1. Garo Tavitjan - Urban Groove - (Quorum 2003)
2. Garo Tavitjan - Expressions (Alliance Records 2003)
3. Garo Tavitjan - Personal View (Paramecium 2006)
4. Garo Tavitjan - Macedonian Rhythms and Improvisations (Paramecium 2008)

ARRANGEMENTS, PRODUCTIONS AND MUSIC GUEST APEARANCES ON OTHER ALBUMS

1. Rade Serbedzija - Ne okreci se sine (Croatia Records 2020)
2. Zeljko Bebek Anthology 40 years (Croatia Records 2014)
3. Zeljko Bebek - Duets (Croatia Records 2018)
4. Josipa Lisac - Posve Slobodna (Croatia Records 2017)
5. Croatia World Music (Croatia Records 2018)
6. Croatia Records promo (Croatia Records 2010)
7. Doc Heine - FIA (Triggerjam 2013)
8. MEZZO compilation (Meco Armenia 2015)
9. Sony Jazz Compilation (Sony Jazz London 2003)
10. Music from Macedonia - Midem (Midem 2016)
11. Jazz from Macedonia - SJF (SJF 2009)
12. Macedonia Forever - AMC (AMC 2008)
13. Compilation Spato - Treasury 1 (Spato 2007)
14. Compilation Spato - Treasury 2 (Spato 2007)
15. Tea Collection - Abre Makedonche (Tea Magazine 2004)
16. Rebeka - Nesto Ubavo 2001 (Delta Records 2001)
17. Rebeka - The Best of (Sunsilk 2006)
18. Karolina - Zosto sonot ima kraj (Avalon 2001)
19. Karolina - Best of (Avalon 2005)
20. Karolina - Najubavi Pesni (Avalon 2012)
21. Nokaut 3 (Gorilla 2014)
22. DNA - Live Metropolis Arena (2017)
23. Eva Nedinkovska - Talisman (Paramecium 2006)
24. Kristina Arnaudova - Zemi me (Avalon 2014)
25. Lambe Alabakovski - More od solzi (M2 2006)
26. DNK - Pazi Dete (Quorum 2003)
27. M2 - Pod isto nebo (M2 2002)
28. M2 - Potraga po zvezda (M2 2003)
29. 4play - Pred Polnok (M2 2004)
30. Ciki - Zaloznik (2008)
31. Tanja and Friends - Bozikni pesni (Music Mission 2006)
32. Chromatic Point - Sliki od starata kukja (Miner 2014)

AWARDS

1. Mother Teresa - for humanitarian contribution and service in Macedonia
2. Best group - Paramecium - Mumiano - Istria 2000
3. Grand Prix - Sony Jazz London 2003
4. Jazz Album of the Year - Personal View 2006 ZB
5. Concert of the Year - Tavitjan Brothers - 2008 ZB
6. Ford Ambassador 2009
7. Album of the Year - Macedonian Heart - 2009 ZB
8. Video of the year - Eleno Ќerko with Massimo Savic - 2009 ZB
9. Producers of the Year - Tavitjan Brothers - 2009 ZB
10. The most successful artists of 2009 VSNU
11. Project of the Year - Macedonian Heart Part 2 - 2011 ZB
12. Tikvesh Brand Ambassador 2011
13. Macedonian Music Ambassadors - March 2012
14. AGBU Award for Cultural Contribution of the Armenian Community in Bulgaria 2014
15. European Ambassador of Jazz - Mezzo and city of Yerevan 2015
16. House of Fame - Mezzo Production Armenia 2015
17. International success - Tavitjan brothers - 2016 ZB
18. Member of the VRU and Carver Foundation (America)
19. Zildjian company artist and endorser (2019)
20. Vicfirth company artist and endorser (2019)
21. Best jazz collaborations – ZB (2022)
22. Sonor artist endorser (2023)
23. Evans artist endorser (2023)
24. Roland artist (2023)
25. One of top 500 drummers in the world - drummerworld community 2023