Macha Gharibian: a musical revolution in multiple languages

Personal experiences often ignite the flame of creativity. Love, loneliness, inner battles, and wonder emerge as the primary elements through which the artist brings their work to life. The act of expression unfolds in a journey of multiple directions: a melody can transform into the smoothest song, and a specific language may serve as the ideal medium to express what heals the soul. The power to transmute lived experience into art becomes an act of remembrance and revolution. It is a force that reclaims, reimagines, and reshapes the world through creation.

And there she is: standing in front of a piano covered by red wool with her eyes closed and her hands on the keys. What's on the mind of someone who transforms her intimate experiences into a collective dialogue? She's not thinking about the exact tone palette that defines her latest project. For Macha Gharibian, this color shows how everything is connected. "I didn’t consciously choose it, but it naturally relates to the idea of my album Phenomenal Women." She continues, "Red is an intense color that stands out, and for a long time, women were taught not to shine—don’t speak too loudly, don’t be too smart. At some point, I realized we need to raise our voices because it can help younger women believe in themselves and not be afraid to show who they are."

Her voice stands out, both literally and figuratively, in the contemporary jazz scene. The decision to sing in five languages and open her heart by putting lyrics to her music is a way to enhance the creative process and allow us to enter her world. "The way I write music is always connected to my inner feelings. Every song is different; each has its own process. For the first song, You Love Her, the lyrics came first. I wrote it from a personal story—someone I knew. With this song, I wanted to express tenderness and love. Even if a story with someone is over, the tenderness remains; we will always love each other, no matter the distance. This song is about love, addiction, and offering a hand to someone struggling with it."

Macha’s constant curiosity is evident throughout the album. "When you create, something pushes you. My father always said it’s like pulling a thread—as soon as you start, it takes you somewhere." In the intimate environment of the studio, creative evolution unfolds continuously. "For the song Phenomenal Women, the bassline came first. I began to improvise and while listening to the rhythm, I envisioned voices improvising. I started by myself, but when we got to the studio, I asked the musicians to experiment at some point. The song’s structure took shape as a journey. In the final section, the Fender Rhodes feels tribal to me, something powerful."

Her multiple artistic voices—singer, pianist, songwriter, composer, and arranger—add a layer of understanding to the improvisational process, allowing the music to evolve in unexpected ways. "It turned into something raw, animal. The beast inside me exploded energetically as if someone had sparked a fire in me."

In the deepest of her creations, there's a recurring element: love. "Love is a big part of life—more important than anything. I think the world needs love: too many people are angry, and many others are suffering. We need to give and spread love. When someone is in love, they radiate warmth, like sunbeams. It’s such a beautiful feeling."

While each song is written for specific people, the album pulses around feminism. "I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve read a lot about womanhood and how we’re educated. Women often face more difficulties moving directly toward their goals—because of motherhood and because we’re taught not to shine too brightly. This is something we need to stop. The world needs us to shine. At the heart of it all, a question remains: Is there any form of love greater than the common good?

To truly understand the essence of this work, it's essential to mention the poem that inspired the album’s title—Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. "I began reading works by Afro-descendant women, and I found their vision of feminism resonated deeply with mine. I felt deeply connected to their perspective—the way they express it and approach the movement. It’s not about fighting; it’s an intelligent and powerful assertion of womanhood." Once again, the capacity for wonder sparked Gharibian’s creativity. "While recording the album, I watched Maya Angelou recite this poem, and it was mesmerizing. She was so beautiful, a bit mischievous. At that moment, I knew—this had to be the name of my album."

Some people say jazz is a way of life, and it is. When playing jazz, we accept that things might not go as expected, so we’re ready to jump into a challenging situation and keep the game going. Jazz musicians can play with anyone, and that’s the most exciting part.

In this multidirectional path, she's not alone. By her side, drummer Dré Pallemaerts and bassist Kenny Ruby intertwined with her piano, blending the sounds that embrace the powerful lyrics. For the first time in her career, she decided to have the voices of Lea Maria Fries, Linda Oláh, and Isabel Sörling: voices that could reach a wide range of tones to incorporate the element of improvisation. "To me, improvisation adds flavor and freshness. My songs are very structured, and having a clear structure is important because it gives me the full picture. The structure shall be precise, but improvisation brings a unique character to the music. When playing live, I need moments of improvisation because that’s when we surprise each other as musicians, keeping the process spontaneous and unexpected."

When listening to Phenomenal Women by Macha Gharibian, you find yourself wrapped in stories from other times and experiences that don't belong to you. Through her voice, loneliness turns sweet, and the idyll becomes eternal. It’s impossible to know for whom these songs were written, yet through her piano, eroticism becomes a reality, as well as the possibility of feeling that your life could be told better in Armenian or French. An album that deserves to be listened to more than once to capture all the elements that emerge from it.