For those unaware, the music heard on Strange Times was composed across four years, from the beginning of the pandemic and into the rebuilding of society of the present.

With darker tones reflecting the peaks of societal unrest and hopeful uplifts mirroring the journey out of those years, Yulia Musayelyan conveys a breadth and depth of compositional and arranging maturity. Many of the tracks, both arrangements and compositions, pay homage to the traditional folk styles of South America, and more specifically of Argentina.

“Oración del Remanso” is a modern Argentinian folk song in the style of chamamé, composed by Jorge Fandermole. Using an 11/8 adaptation of the traditional 6/8 style, Musayelyan reimagines the piece, freed up rhythmically and melodically unbound from the metrics of the lyric.

Also, “Carnavalito” is named after the carnavalito musical style from northern Argentina and Bolivia.

The phrase “Strange Times” was chosen for the album’s title as an apt summary for the confusion that engulfed the globe in a time that was unlike any other in living memory. “The title is a recognition that it will take us - people, individually, and humanity as a whole - some time to make any sense of the impact of living through these deeply unsettling times,” Musayelyan says.

However, despite the seemingly hesitant spirit the title connotes, the bandleader remarks that this album is filled with an elated sense of possibility. The pieces, which were written almost entirely in isolation, have a limitlessness to them that comes with the territory of new works that have only just begun to be performed live. “This album feels like a new friendship,” Musayelyan says. “I’m excited about getting to play these tunes more - to get to know them, start to take more risks - individually as a soloist and together as a group, and see where it takes us sonically.”

1. Rothko Sketches
2. Oración Del Remanso
3. Futurism
4. Strange Times
5. Carnavalito
6. Parte Del Aire
7. Perugia at Night
8. Solstice
9. Zamba de Usted

This beautifully crafted, wholly impassioned new recording from the flutist and composer born in Moscow, Russia, now based in the US, opens on the breathtakingly ornate Rothko Sketches and the veritably glistening Oración Del Remanso, and then bring us the fervently sculpted Futurism and the late night, smokey club vibe of the sumptuous title track Strange Times.

Up next is the spirited Carnavalito which is in turn backed seamlessly by the gentle dance floor swirls and twirls of Parte Del Aire, the rhythmically ambient Perugia at Night, the album rounding out on the free flowing melodies that drive Solstice, closing on the all-embracing Zamba de Usted.

The ensemble on Strange Times comprises Yulia Musayelyan (flute, bass flute), Maxim Lubarsky (piano), Fernando Huergo (bass), and Mark Walker (drums). “I trust these musicians with my music and value what they bring to the group sound,” Musayelyan says. “Playing music with others, especially improvised music, is a very special experience - a balance between being open and vulnerable while being solid in what you contribute and flexible in where things might go in a performance.”

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