Eldar Djangirov

[doubleM]

I was just at a jazz festival in Utah, and saw this 16 year old Russian kid play. It was beyond description. I went online to see if anyone else had heard him, and non other than Benny Carter was in disbelief. The comparisons to Art Tatum are valid (IMHO), but he seems to have asborbed many other players too (Bill Evans, Chick, McCoy, O.P.)...I don't think I've ever seen the use of the term "prodigy" seem like such an understatement. Eldar Djangirov!

[Rooster_Ties]

Yeah, he's been living in the Kansas City area for about the last 5 or 6 years. He's incredible now, but he was nearly as amazing even back when he was only like 12 years old.

A couple good friends of mine are the rhythm section on both of his (Eldar's) CD's, and they can't say enough good things about him - even privately. (And this is coming from two of the very best local musicians in the Kansas City area - guys who are at the very top of the 'call list' if a national act passes through town and needs a sub.) The kid really is that amazing.

http://eldarjazz.com or http://eldarjazz.com/bio.html to go straight to his bio.

I understand last year Eldar was on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" show on NPR (although I didn't catch the show, unfortunately).

Here's another good quote...

“What Eldar has is some kind of gift. You don’t just learn the stuff he’s playin’ when you’re 10 or 15 years old. I can’t think of nobody I’ve known playing like that at that age. It’s amazing…and it’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever heard.”

• -- 93-YEAR-OLD CLAUDE “FIDDLER” WILLIAMS, JAM MAGAZINE, KANSAS CITY (Aug./Sept., 2001)
  

<-- Then

<-- Now

Oh, there are sound-samples of several of his tunes on his web-site...

http://eldarjazz.com/handprints-cd.html (his second CD)

http://eldarjazz.com/eldar-cd.html (his first CD)

[Rooster_Ties]

16-year old Eldar, doing Chick Corea's "Matrix"

Edited July 16, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[Rooster_Ties]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 25, 2003

Eldar Djangirov taking his piano chops to West Coast

By JOE KLOPUS

The Kansas City Star

He came to town five years ago to immerse himself in the never-ending task of learning to play jazz. And now, as he leaves town, he knows he has a healthy start.

Pianist Eldar Djangirov is 16 now, much taller and much deeper-voiced than when he came to Kansas City from Kyrgyzstan. He's a young veteran, having recorded two CDs, appeared on the Grammy Awards telecast and played on public radio's "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz." It has been thrilling to hear his playing grow and mature.

But he and his family just moved to San Diego, where his father, mechanical engineer Emil Djangirov, took a new job.

"We're doing it just for the change, and maybe there'll be more opportunities," the pianist says.

This makes his concert appearance on Wednesday at the Cherokee Christian Church a farewell of sorts.

"In Kansas City I've met beautiful people all over the place," he says. "They're so kind. And you don't find that everywhere. People are so open-hearted, and they want to help you....I think back to when I came here, and it's hard to believe that people could be so kind. I think Kansas City has the best of what human beings have to offer."

When he was 5, he exhibited an amazing ability to reproduce what his father had just played on the piano. (Dad was already a jazz fan, and mom, Tatiana, is a musicologist.) Thus began the journey that took him halfway around the world.

Seven years ago, an American who heard him play at a festival in Siberia encouraged the family to come to the United States.

"New York is kind of too big," Djangirov says. "Kansas City has that great jazz tradition....My parents and I decided that it would be a good place to live. We just decided to check it out."

When he arrived, those prodigious piano skills got noticed. But behind his back, some people said he wasn't improvising as much as simply mimicking what he'd been hearing on records. They aren't saying that anymore.

Djangirov has grown into a true improviser. You can hear the evidence on one of his summer projects, a new CD called "Handprints."

It's his second disc. The first, "Eldar," appeared in 2001.

"From my point of view, that was a long time ago," Djangirov said. "This CD sounds different."

Like the first one, the disc features Gerald Spaits on bass and Todd Strait on drums. Both of them say Djangirov's playing can change and grow dramatically over just a few weeks.

So, for maximum freshness, little more than a month elapsed between the recording session and the CD's recent release.

"It was a pretty quick job but pretty satisfying," Djangirov says.

Old pro that he is, he says he feels pretty comfortable in the studio. The disc shows him in a favorable light as a player (hear that killer intro to a high-speed rendition of "Caravan"), arranger (hear the changes he works on Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing") and composer. One of the standouts is his own piece "Perplexity," a musical response to the puzzlements of life.

This year, music has already taken him far from Kansas City or San Diego. In New York, he recently played at the JVC Jazz Festival, at an event called "Piano Starts Here." He was one of eight high-powered pianists featured: He was in the company of Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, Bill Charlap, Ted Rosenthal, Kenny Werner, Joey Calderazzo and Eliane Elias. He's just played a gig in Salt Lake City, too.

Meanwhile Djangirov is working at expanding his musical scope.

"I've started listening to more players -- not just piano players but more horn players....I'm getting more into the variety of music. (Saxophonist) Michael Brecker, (trumpeter) Roy Hargrove, (guitarist) Pat Metheny. Old stuff, new stuff, everything from the bebop era to now....I think everything I listen to will somehow influence me in a good way."

He says he keeps up his usual musical regimen by practicing three hours a day or more.

The Cherokee Christian Church show, which he calls "kind of a farewell gig," will feature Spaits on bass and drummer Tommy Ruskin. They'll play a blend of old things and maybe some new stuff, Djangirov says. But no matter how far he goes in music -- or what direction he goes -- he says he'll always remember his time in KC.

"People there have helped me live my life," he said.

[doubleM]

Thanks Rooster Ties, for that post. I hope Eldar finds some good opportunities to play in San Diego, L.A., etc.. I imagine that it's just a matter of time before he will end up in NYC, where most motherfuckers of his magnitude end up living, but at 16 he's probably got some high schooling to finish up w/, etc.. I am intrigued by the lack of response to this thread (by people other than RT, and MM)-- because as far as I can tell (and I know that my opinion is around 1/239,000,000 in nationwide importance, smaller around the globe), this kid is already a GIANT. People probably haven't heard him yet, or can't imagine what the hype is all about. All I know is this dude tore it up in SLC, and I can't wait to see him play again, and again, and again.

[Rooster_Ties]

Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004

KC-connected pianist gets major label attention

By JOE KLOPUS

The Kansas City Star

Kansas City jazz fans have known about his piano prowess for years. Now everyone will know.

Eldar Djangirov has a contract with a major record label, at age 17.

Sony Classical has already recorded the first disc in a multi-album deal for the pianist, who'll be visiting his old stomping grounds in Kansas City and Topeka again next week.

“We did the album at the beginning of April,” he says on his cell phone from Miami, “with Todd Strait on drums and John Patitucci on bass, and Michael Brecker on sax on one tune I wrote, ‘Point of View.' ”

That's pretty fast company. Patitucci is the astonishingly skilled player who has floated bands for Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter, while Brecker has taken home more Grammys than just about anybody who isn't Pat Metheny. And Strait's excellence, while not acknowledged by the worldwide jazz community yet, is apparent to everybody who has heard him. [RT here: Joe's right (as always!), Todd Strait is a fantastic drummer, easily one of the best (maybe the best) drummer in all of Kansas City - probably for the last 10 years or so.]

Djangirov (pronounce it “john-GEAR-off”) was already a recording veteran; he made two self-released CDs when he lived in Kansas City.

It turns out, he says, that the big record company has had its eyes on him for quite a while.

“Actually they found out about me when I was about 11,” he says. “To make a long story short, we decided that when I was about 17 it would be the right time for me.” And that's how things worked out.

The Sony recording session went smoothly, says the pianist, who was born in Kyrgyzstan and lived and learned in Kansas City for five years before moving to San Diego last year.

“We did the album in New York,” Djangirov says. “We started at 11 a.m. Tuesday and were done by 4 a.m. Wednesday. We made it an intense day and night.

“That's how I liked to do my previous albums,” he says, pointing out that his second, “Handprints,” was recorded in a single day. “You get into that musical extra dimension, where everything is flowing.”

And the musical personalities meshed, despite having a 17-year-old leader and sidemen in their 40s and, in Brecker's case, 50s.

“It was a fun process because I'd never played with John Patitucci before,” Djangirov says. “I got to learn so much more, hearing things from John's perspective. You're just in awe to talk to him.

“And Todd's a great person. He's been a great mentor to me since I was 13.

“Michael Brecker's a really nice guy, and, man, can he play! He's got that big, fat New York sound, and he's got chops that'll blow you three miles out of the way. … He was doing all those amazing Michael Brecker things, and it was so effortless.”

The album doesn't have a title yet or a release date, though late August seems likely, Djangirov says.

The song selection is in line with what he has been playing in concert for the last three years or so. “I tried to do an eclectic repertoire. Jazz standards like ‘Maiden Voyage' and ballads and Latin tunes and four originals.”

The originals slated for the Sony album include “Raindrops,” a tune Djangirov wrote not long after moving to San Diego last year, thinking about things he missed in Kansas City.

The pianist is finishing his junior year at Francis Parker School in San Diego and not letting his touring schedule (Maui, Miami and New York in just the last couple of weeks) get in the way of his studies — nonmusical and musical.

“I haven't had a lot of chances to practice three hours a day lately. I've been on the road. But whenever I have enough time, I put in three hours a day. I get some discipline in there, keep my chops in place, learn new tunes, write. It's refreshing to get back to the instrument.”

Once he's out of high school, he says, he plans to “keep doing music. I'd like to go to college and have a community with jazz players my age, to see who's out there.

“I'm going to keep doing what I love, and not stopping.”

Djangirov plays at the Blue Room in a trio with Gerald Spaits on bass and Tommy Ruskin on drums on May 28; tickets are $10 and are sure to go quickly. Then on May 29, 30 and 31, he plays at the Topeka Jazz Festival.

[doubleM]

Go Eldar!

[EKE BBB]

AMG reviews:

ELDAR (2001)

HANDPRINTS (2003)

BTW: do you know where´s available on-line (shipping to Europe)?

[Spontooneous]

Eldar is genuine, not some jazz poser with a hat and dark glasses. He's sounding more and more like himself all the time. And he's evolving rapidly, in good ways.

The last time I heard him live, about three months back, was the best I've ever heard him play. Now he sounds like someone who's open to taking chances and making mistakes, not a boy whose mom is looking over his shoulder as he plays. His writing seems to be getting better too.

Frankly, a whole set of Eldar wears me out. So many notes! I hope that his Sony album sounds like much more than a chopsfest, despite the presence of Patitucci and Brecker.

He is a genuinely nice and down-to-earth human being, with his head screwed on firmly. And he plays the correct bridge to "When Lights Are Low," not Miles' bridge.

Argue all you want to over which artists deserve a major-label contract more than some teen who hasn't paid his dues. Still, there's something cool about Eldar, and I can't grudge him his success.

[Big Wheel]

I paid a visit to my old school today and one of the sax players I know gave me a little blindfold test. He pops a CDR in and says, "Guess who this is." This sick solo version of Caravan comes on. The guy has more technique than just about anyone I've heard...especially that left hand...holy shit!! If it hadn't been for the recording quality and the modern harmony and rhythm I would have guessed the Steve Allen overdub joke record, the one where they bill it as the forgotten three-handed pianist. It was almost too perfect, so I guess "Arturo Sandoval playing piano." "Keep guessing." It's clearly not Chick, not Brad, not Keith...he would never articulate like that...then they go into this montuno section, which is ALMOST authentic, but not quite..."he's not Cuban." "Just guess." I had been listening to Michel Camilo on the radio a few hours before, and this guy had even more technique than that but the articulation was somewhat similar, so in spite of my earlier assertion I take a wild guess at Camilo.

It was Eldar! I'd never heard him before. Turned out the sax player had played with him at the Brubeck Jazz Workshop. Goddamn...a little real life experience under his belt and that kid is gonna have it all put together pretty soon. I got the CDR to take home with me, but I dunno how much I'm gonna be playing it anytime soon--listening to stuff like that just makes me want to cry and never play again when I hear how much kids like that can get out of the piano.

[Jazzmoose]

Well, this thread shows what a coward I am when it comes to jazz. Yeah, I've heard of him and love his music, but I figured "what do I know; I'm not gonna mention him on Organissimo with those heavyweight jazz fanatics posting! If he was really any good, they'd know about him already!"

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Rooster pointed me here, after having done a search going back only a few months and posting a new topic on him - since deleted to keep all happy.

I had no idea of who he even was but saw this cover and clicked.... holy moley that kid can play.

eldar's website

Edited March 22, 2005 by Man with the Golden Arm

[chris]

NPR just had a story on Eldar with an interview and some interesting sound clips. Man, those are some serious chops...

[Dr. Rat]

We've been playing him for a couple of months, and I had no idea he was that young (I rarely look at the covers).

In fact, I can hardly beleive he's that young. He not only plays with facility beyond his years, he plays with maturity beyond his years. Also, he isn't quite the show-off that the Tatum comparison might imply.

--eric

[chris]

The interview is really great-- he seems very down-to-earth, very humble... hard to believe he's so young. I thought his agreement that ballads are more difficult to play than up-tempo numbers, which feature technical virtuosity, were pretty mature.

When I was that age I was wailing away on the electric guitar trying to combine Eddie Van Halen and Yngie Malmsteen-- I Was damn proud of what technical chops I had! Ah, to be young again

[EKE BBB]

From all the reviews I´ve read and the audio-clips in his website (that really impressed me), I finally took the plunge and ordered Eldar Djangirov´s recent release on Sonny Classical.

Could anybody point me to any on-line store where I can get his two previous releases? I´ve visited 10 pages from my Google search, and several of my usual sellers´, without any result.

Thanks in advance!

[Rooster_Ties]

I'm sure I could scare up copies of both of them here in Kansas City, with relative ease. Any preference for new or used copies??

I'm sure I've seen both of them at a handful of stores here in KC, since Eldar lived here from the time he was 10 or 12, until he was about 17 or 18 -- and both CD's were recorded here. In fact, the rest of his rhythm section on both dates, are two guys I've known for years -- Gerald Spaits (ba) and Todd Straight (d). Todd is on Eldar's Sony release too, which is a nice bit of continuity. (FYI, both Todd and Gerald are absolute top-tier players here in KC, with Todd literally being the best of the best.)

Edited May 11, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[Free For All]

In case anyone is watching Conan tonight, Eldar is going to be the musical guest.

[Soul Stream]

...usually these types of things just seem like freakshows to me. Whether it be the 8 year old girl singing Whitney Houston, 14 year old blues guitar kid playing SRV faster than SRV or a young jazz prodigy. Kids are just kids who love to play, but sad to say, it's the adult circus surrounding them that turn it into something else. All the best to the youngster, but I'll check back in 10 years and hopefully it'll be something more than how fast 16 year old fingers can fly over Sweet Georgia Brown with all the adults smiling and pointing. Many times these kids burn out. Hope he withstands the pressure and has a great and enjoyable career. Roy Hargrove made it, I'm trying to think of who else was in the catagory that lived up to early expectations.

Edited July 6, 2005 by Soul Stream

[Free For All]

...usually these types of things just seem like freakshows to me.  Whether it be the 8 year old girl singing Whitney Houston, 14 year old blues guitar kid playing SRV faster than SRV or a young jazz prodigy.  Kids are just kids who love to play, but sad to say, it's the adult circus surrounding them that turn it into something else.  All the best to the youngster, but I'll check back in 10 years and hopefully it'll be something more than how fast 16 year old fingers can fly over Sweet Georgia Brown with all the adults smiling and pointing.  Many times these kids burn out.  Hope he withstands the pressure and has a great and enjoyable career.  Roy Hargrove made it, I'm trying to think of who else was in the catagory that lived up to early expectations.

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Another "young prodigy" who has lived up to the hype is Ryan Kisor. He had some rough moments early on, but has turned into an excellent player.

Regarding Eldar- SS, I recently played with Eldar at a festival and must say I was impressed. Yes, he depends primarily upon his prodigious technique at this stage, but given he's only 18 that doesn't surprise me. The "self-editing" process will come with maturity, IMHO. Also, he's not used to playing behind others, so his comping is predictably heavy and overly busy. What impressed me was his personality and attitude- he's a nice kid who's eager to learn and is sincerely respectful of his peers and elders (no pun intended). I watched him get "dressed down" a couple times by players who wanted him to thin out his comping, and his reaction was not to pout or roll his eyes- instead he made an effort to comply.

Now whether his quick rise to success and manipulation by the record execs change this remains to be seen. Hopefully not. For now I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Soul Stream]

That's nice to hear FFA. Hope he continues to have fun and enjoy music. Joey Defrancesco is another who lived up to the hype.

[Free For All]

At this stage he's mostly a mirror of his influences- Oscar Peterson will emerge for a moment, then Herbie, then McCoy, etc. Actually pretty fascinating to watch.

I know that when I teach I continually stress the importance of listening to recordings. Well, here's a kid who's been doing that, and he is able to imitate their style to a point that's scary.

Of course, imitation is just the first step. As Clark Terry says "Imitate- Assimilate- Innovate"!

[EKE BBB]

For those who can read Spanish, here´s my review of "Eldar" for the Spanish jazz website Tomajazz:

http://www.tomajazz.com/discos/

Please, be permissive (with the review), as it´s the first one that I´ve ever wrote.

[Free For All]

In Spanish is he known as "El Dar"?

[EKE BBB]

In Spanish is he known as "El Dar"?

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