- What is This Thing Called Love
- Someday
- You Don’t Know what Love Is. (With Chris
Botti)
- Daily Living
- Dat Dere
- Besame Mucho
- Straight No Chaser. (With Roy Hargrove)
- Sincerely
- Chronicle
- Take the A Train
Eldar - Piano
Marco Panascia - Bass
Todd Straight - Drums
Eldar hails from Kyrgystan,
he moved to the USA in 1998 at age 11 and
now at just 20 years of age, is one of the
most accomplished jazz pianists and composers,
I have ever heard. It is just amazing that
someone who was not exposed to American culture
until 9 years ago, should have achieved such
a remarkable technique, and such an understanding
of the genre. It has to be a remarkable gift
because no one could learn to play so well
in such a short time.
Chris Botti guests on track
3, his playing is as usual full of delicate,
charming and sometimes understated phrases.
The tune is one of my favourites and one that
leaves the improviser many possibilities,
due to it’s construction. The trio with Eldar
leading the way accompanies him sympathetically,
with the leader not using his technique for
the sake of it, but working in harness with
the guest soloist. The great Oscar Peterson
is not only an incomparable soloist but a
wonderful accompanist, it is a mark of maturity
in a pianist.
Eldar plays a number of his
own compositions on this record, to me his
compositions, while interesting, are not so
outstanding as his work with the library of
jazz standards. Perhaps this is a side to
his playing which will develop in the future,
nothing would surprise me with this young
man! His interpretations of both Dat Dere
and Besame Mucho are both fresh and very different,
the former he tears into with everything he
has but the latter is delicately embellished.
Straight No Chaser, Monk’s
strange but interesting blues, brings trumpet
player Roy Hargrove to join the trio and everyone
has a high energy work out on this one! The
rhythm section works well and the whole thing
swings with great momentum! Eldar’s technique
is shown off to great advantage here and anything
played by Roy Hargrove is always great to
listen to.
Two very different Eldar
compositions are heard on tracks 8 & 9,
Sincerely is tender and gentle, whilst Chronicle
is high energy.
The session concludes with
an unusual, but very pleasant version of the
Duke’s A Train, which even includes some stride
piano, is their anything this young man can’t
do!
Be very clear Eldar Djangirov
is a young man you are going to hear a lot
more of in the jazz world! Get acquainted
with this record now!
Don Mather
see also
review by Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Sony
Classical 82876 74745-2
