Keys to the Golden Door

No matter how many doors you have to open before you reach that golden door, it will be worth the effort.

Carolina Gazal, Matthew Bender

Lucy Yeghiazaryan never intended to become one of New York City’s most prolific straight-ahead jazz artists. In fact, she never expected to be in the fiercely competitive music industry at all, especially as a self-proclaimed introvert. 

“I’ve actually always fought against becoming an artist,” the bright-eyed vocalist tells AGBU Impact while weaving through unassuming musical landmarks in Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood. These sites, overlooked by unfazed New Yorkers, are actually hidden gems of the Harlem Renaissance’s jazz era, once home to legendary voices like Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Cab Calloway. Yeghiazaryan, coincidentally, also calls this nabe home, in both a physical and creative sense.

Though Yeghiazaryan never set out to pursue music, she remembers jazz playing a central role in her childhood in rural Armenia during the post-Soviet years. Their home, as she recalls, was saturated with the ballads of jazz titans like Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. 

Despite her love of the craft, Yeghiazaryan pursued World History once enrolled as a student at William Paterson University, with scholarship assistance from AGBU. Her first concert with AGBU was during this time, a tribute to Paul Motion with Arto Tunçboyacyan, which kick-started many jazz nights with AGBU at Joe’s Pub. Upon graduation, however, she still had a lingering reputation as a singer—an identity she wrestled with but relied on to support her new life in New York. At one point, the musician even sold a beloved mandolin to pay for dental work. “People started calling me for gigs and performances,” she notes. “I had to pay the rent, so I sang. It sort of drew me back in, but my intention was not to do it.” She adds: “Jazz musicians from all over the world come to New York to get a good slap in the face and 99% of them turn right back.” Yeghiazaryan was determined to persist in the cut-throat industry, with or without an Armenian audience. 

The spirited singer’s eyes light up when reminiscing on her upbringing in Armenia. Even though it was a difficult period, often remiss of electricity and stability, she remembers her motherland fondly. “I had a really beautiful childhood,” she says. “We grew up in the house that my father built with his father and it’s still standing.” The lack of job opportunities for the family during the nineties, however, forced a move to America in 2002. 

“We had no one here,” she says solemnly, adding that the family was thrust into a post-9/11 America when xenophobia was at an all-time high. “We were the only immigrants in town and people did not want us there, to put it lightly.” As a reclusive teen in West Milford, New Jersey, Yeghiazaryan turned to her sole saving grace that felt like home: music. “It was as if nothing else was familiar except jazz. It was the one little string that was consistent,” she says. “And here I am, still holding that string.” 

Yeghiazaryan credits her savvy mother’s “good eye” and love of folk music for her success today. Despite moving to an entirely new country without any existing contacts, her mother secured a full scholarship for her kids to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s “Jazz for Teens” program for six years, which lit the fire for a young Yeghiazaryan and, more importantly, taught her to lead a band. “I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that understood the importance of the arts, but I mean, in the nineties it was also a way to get out.”

Fast-forward to today, and jazz, yet again, is the unifying thread that stitched Yeghiazaryan’s new life together. She met her now-husband, Canadian jazz saxophonist Grant Stewart, on tour in Shanghai. A few years later, Yeghiazaryan’s sultry croon lit up the stage at Joe’s Pub for AGBU’s “Armenians in Jazz” concert, all while pregnant. This year, she welcomed her baby girl Loreni while putting several artistic endeavors into motion. 

Yeghiazaryan credits Creative Armenia, which partners with AGBU, for her latest tour for her album, Beside the Golden Door, released this past July. The Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowship is a one year program established in 2018 to award stellar creatives to define the cultural future of Armenia and Artsakh. Not only do fellows gain access to industry connections, they are also awarded financial support to promote their projects with the guidance of industry experts. “Creative Armenia contributed to the tour of the album in Armenia which was a huge part of the release and definitely created some local buzz around the project,” the musician shares.

The album, inspired by the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, tackles themes of immigration, community, and what it means to be an American, featuring lyrics in both English and Armenian. “It thematically matches pairs of jazz standards and Armenian songs that are about the same thing.” Select tracks have landed on trending Spotify playlists, which helped propel her monthly listeners to an impressive 40.2k users. 

Through the Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowship, she was paired with mentor Lusine Pachanyan from the Berlin Art Hotel in Gyumri. “She has single-handedly created an artistic haven in Gyumri. Not only do they host concerts but also have a small library and amazing exhibits of modern Armenian visual artists,” Yeghiazaryan explains. “It was an absolute pleasure working with a fellow Armenian woman and I consider her a dear friend now.”

For someone who grappled with the idea of becoming an artist, the jazz singer now has her ambitions set high. Music, she’s realized, is one way she can help raise awareness and representation of Armenia, especially post-war. 

This past October she performed her quintet at “Arvest,” a live show that was part of the musical portion of the AGBU General Assembly weekend events. 

Her word of advice to aspiring talents is this: “No matter how many doors you have to open before you reach that golden door, it will be worth the effort.” Clearly each door is an opportunity to make new connections and gain the confidence to take center stage.