Russian jazz singer. Famous Russian jazz singers
Oleg Lundstrem - Caravan
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While jazz was actively developing in the USA, in post-revolutionary Russia of the 1920s, it only began its timid movement. It cannot be said that this musical genre was categorically forbidden, but the fact that the development of jazz in Russia did not proceed without criticism from the authorities. The expression "Today he plays jazz, and tomorrow he will sell his homeland" (or another less popular one, "From the saxophone to the Finnish knife - one step") - clearly reflects the attitude towards jazz in the USSR.
There is a version that jazz in the USSR survived due to the fact that it was considered "music of blacks", and blacks as an oppressed nation, and therefore friendly to the Soviet state. Therefore, jazz in the Union was not completely stifled, despite the fact that many talented jazzmen could not "break through" to the general public. They were not allowed to perform and record on records. Jazz in Russia was still considered an allegedly ideological weapon with which the US was going to enslave the USSR. Mentions of jazz in the media were tacitly banned.
The first jazz orchestra in Soviet Russia was created in Moscow in 1922 by the poet, translator, dancer, theater figure Valentin Parnakh and was called "Valentin Parnakh's First Eccentric Jazz Band Orchestra in the RSFSR".
The orchestra of the Moscow pianist and composer Alexander Tsfasman is considered the first professional jazz ensemble to perform on the radio and record a record - his orchestra "AMA Jazz" performed on Moscow radio in 1927 and recorded the record "Hallelujah". Following him, the early Soviet jazz bands specialized in performing fashionable dances - foxtrot a, charleston a and others.
However, Leonid Utesov can be considered the "father" of Russian jazz. In the mass Soviet consciousness, jazz began to gain wide popularity in the 30s, thanks to the Leningrad ensemble led by actor and singer Leonid Utyosov and trumpeter Ya. B. Skomorovsky. The popular film comedy with his participation "Merry Fellows" (1934, originally titled "Jazz Comedy") was dedicated to the history of a jazz musician and had an appropriate soundtrack (written by Isaak Dunaevsky). Utyosov and Skomorovsky formed the original style of "tea-jazz" (theatrical jazz), which was based on a mix of music and theater, operetta, that is, vocal numbers and an element of performance played a large role in it.
Leonid Utyosov - Mishka Odesit
The work of the composer and leader of the orchestras, Eddie Rosner, significantly influenced the development of Soviet jazz. He started his career in Germany and Poland, and when he came to the USSR, he became one of the pioneers of swing in the USSR. An important role in the popularization and development of the swing style was also played by Moscow bands of the 30s and 40s. under the direction of Alexander Tsfasman a and Alexander Varlamov a. The big-band of Oleg Lundstrem is also widely known (he toured in China in 1935 - 1947)
Khrushchev's "thaw" weakened the persecution of musicians. The VI World Youth Festival, held in Moscow, gave birth to a new generation of Soviet jazzmen. Soviet jazz entered the European arena. The 2nd Moscow Jazz Festival went down in history - the all-Union recording company Melodiya released a collection of the best musical numbers festival. The names of jazz musicians Igor Bril, Boris Frumkin and others became known. Leonid Chizhik's tours in the USA caused a real sensation among the American public, showing the highest level of skill of Russian pianists.
In the 50-60s. In Moscow, the orchestras of Eddie Rosner and Oleg Lundstrem resumed their activities. Among the new line-ups are the orchestras of Joseph Weinstein (Leningrad) and Vadim Ludvikovsky (Moscow), as well as the Riga Variety Orchestra (REO). Big bands brought up a whole galaxy of talented arrangers and soloists-improvisers. Among them are Georgy Garanyan, Boris Frumkin, Alexei Zubov, Vitaly Dolgov, Igor Kantyukov, Nikolai Kapustin, Boris Matveev, Konstantin Nosov, Boris Rychkov, Konstantin Bakholdin.
During this period, chamber and club jazz was actively developing in all its diversity of style (Vyacheslav Ganelin, David Goloshchekin, Gennady Golshtein, Nikolai Gromin, Vladimir Danilin, Alexei Kozlov, Roman Kunsman, Nikolai Levinovsky, German Lukyanov, Alexander Pishchikov, Alexei Kuznetsov, Viktor Fridman , Andrey Tovmasyan, Igor Bril, Leonid Chizhik, etc.) Many of the above masters of Soviet jazz began their career on the stage of the legendary Moscow jazz club "
Jazz artists invented a distinctive musical language based on improvisation, complex rhythmic patterns (swing) and unique harmonic patterns.
Jazz arose in the late XIX - early XX in the United States of America and was a unique social phenomenon, namely, the fusion of African and American cultures. Further development and the stratification of jazz into various styles and sub-styles is due to the fact that jazz performers and composers continuously continued to complicate their music, look for new sounds and master new harmonies and rhythms.
Thus, a huge jazz heritage has accumulated, in which the following main schools and styles can be distinguished: New Orleans (traditional) jazz, bebop, hard bop, swing, cool jazz, progressive jazz, free jazz, modal jazz, fusion, etc. e. In this article, ten outstanding jazz performers are collected, having read them, you will get the most complete picture of the era of free people and energetic music.
Miles Davis (Miles Davis)
Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton (USA). Known as an iconic American trumpeter whose music had a huge impact on the jazz and music scene of the 20th century as a whole. He experimented a lot and boldly with styles, and perhaps that is why the figure of Davis stands at the origins of such styles as cool jazz, fusion and modal jazz. Miles began his musical career as a member of the Charlie Parker Quintet, but later managed to find and develop his own musical sound. Miles Davis' most important and seminal albums are Birth of the Cool (1949), Kind of Blue (1959), Bitches Brew (1969) and In a Silent Way (1969). The main feature of Miles Davis was that he was constantly in a creative search and showed the world new ideas, and that is why the history of modern jazz music owes so much to his exceptional talent.
Louis Armstrong (Louis Armstrong)
Louis Armstrong, the man whose name comes to most people's minds when they hear the word "jazz", was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans (USA). Armstrong had a dazzling talent for playing the trumpet and did much to develop and popularize jazz music throughout the world. In addition, he also captivated the audience with his husky bass vocals. The path that Armstrong had to go from tramp to the title of King of Jazz was thorny. And it began in a colony for black teenagers, where Louis ended up for an innocent prank - firing a pistol at new year's eve. By the way, he stole a gun from a policeman, a client of his mother, who was a representative of the oldest profession in the world. Thanks to this not too favorable set of circumstances, Louis Armstrong got his first musical experience in the camp brass band. There he mastered the cornet, tambourine and alto horn. In a word, Armstrong went from marches in the colony and then episodic performances in clubs to a world-class musician, whose talent and contribution to the jazz treasury can hardly be overestimated. The influence of his landmark albums Ella and Louis (1956), Porgy and Bess (1957), and American Freedom (1961) can still be heard in the playing of contemporary artists of various styles.
Duke Ellington (Duke Ellington)
Duke Ellinton was born April 29, 1899 in Washington DC. Pianist, orchestra leader, arranger and composer whose music has become a real innovation in the world of jazz. His works were played on all radio stations, and his recordings are rightfully included in the “gold fund of jazz”. Ellinton has been recognized all over the world, received many awards, wrote a huge number of works of genius, which include the "Caravan" standard, which went around the globe. His most notable releases include Ellington At Newport (1956), Ellington Uptown (1953), Far East Suite (1967) and Masterpieces By Ellington (1951).
Herbie Hancock (Herbie Hancock)
Herbie Hancock was born on April 12, 1940, in Chicago (USA). Hancock is known as a pianist and composer, as well as the owner of 14 Grammy awards, which he received for his work in the field of jazz. His music is interesting because it combines elements of rock, funk and soul, along with free jazz. Also in his compositions you can find elements of modern classical music and blues motifs. In general, almost every sophisticated listener will be able to find something for themselves in Hancock's music. If we talk about innovative creative solutions, then Herbie Hancock is considered one of the first jazz performers who combined the synthesizer and funk in the same way, the musician is at the forefront of the newest jazz style - post-bop. Despite the specificity of the music of some stages of Herbie's work, most of his songs are melodic compositions that have fallen in love with the general public.
Among his albums, the following can be distinguished: "Head Hunters" (1971), "Future Shock" (1983), "Maiden Voyage" (1966) and "Takin' Off" (1962).
John Coltrane (John Coltrane)
John Coltrane, an outstanding jazz innovator and virtuoso, was born on September 23, 1926. Coltrane was a talented saxophonist and composer, bandleader and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Coltrane is rightfully considered a significant figure in the history of the development of jazz, who inspired and influenced modern performers, as well as the school of improvisation in general. Until 1955, John Coltrane remained relatively unknown until he joined the Miles Davis band. A few years later, Coltrane leaves the quintet and begins to closely engage in his own work. During these years, he recorded albums that made up the most important part of the jazz heritage.
These are "Giant Steps" (1959), "Coltrane Jazz" (1960) and "A Love Supreme" (1965), which became icons of jazz improvisation.
Charlie Parker (Charlie Parker)
Charlie Parker was born on August 29, 1920 in Kansas City (USA). Love for music woke up in him quite early: he began to master the saxophone at the age of 11. In the 30s, Parker began to master the principles of improvisation and developed in his technique some of the techniques that preceded bebop. Later he became one of the founders of this style (along with Dizzy Gillespie) and, in general, had a very strong influence on jazz music. However, as a teenager, the musician became addicted to morphine, and in the future, the problem of heroin addiction arose between Parker and music. Unfortunately, even after treatment in the clinic and recovery, Charlie Parker could not work as actively and write new music. Ultimately, heroin derailed his life and career and caused his death.
Charlie Parker's most significant jazz albums are Bird and Diz (1952), Birth of the Bebop: Bird on Tenor (1943), and Charlie Parker with strings (1950).
Thelonious Monk Quartet (Thelonious Monk)
Thelonious Monk was born October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount (USA). He is best known as a jazz composer and pianist, as well as one of the founders of bebop. His original "torn" style of playing absorbed various styles - from avant-garde to primitivism. Such experiments made the sound of his music not quite characteristic of jazz, which, however, did not prevent many of his works from becoming classics of this style of music. Being very an unusual person, who from childhood did everything possible not to be "normal" and like everyone else, Monk became known not only for his musical decisions, but also for his extremely complex nature. Many anecdotal stories are associated with his name about how he was late for his own concerts, and once refused to play in a Detroit club at all, because his wife did not show up for a performance. And so Monk sat in a chair, arms folded, until his wife was finally brought into the hall - in slippers and a dressing gown. Before the eyes of her husband, the poor woman was urgently delivered by plane, if only the concert would take place.
Monk's most notable albums include Monk's Dream (1963), Monk (1954), Straight No Chaser (1967), and Misterioso (1959).
Billie Holiday (Billy Holiday)
Billie Holiday, famous American jazz vocalist, was born on April 7, 1917 in Philadelphia. Like many jazz musicians, Holiday began her musical career in nightclubs. Over time, she was lucky enough to meet producer Benny Goodman, who organized her first recordings in the studio. Fame came to the singer after participating in the big bands of such jazz masters as Count Basie and Artie Shaw (1937-1938). Lady Day (as her fans called her) had a unique style of performance, thanks to which she seemed to reinvent a fresh and unique sound for the most simple compositions. She was especially good at romantic, slow songs (such as "Don't Explain" and "Lover Man"). Billie Holiday's career was bright and brilliant, but not long, because after thirty years she became addicted to drinking and drugs, which negatively affected her health. The angelic voice lost its former strength and flexibility, and Holiday was rapidly losing the favor of the public.
Billie Holiday enriched the jazz art with such outstanding albums as "Lady Sings the Blues" (1956), "Body and Soul" (1957), and "Lady in Satin" (1958).
Bill Evans (Bill Evans)
Bill Evans, the legendary American jazz pianist and composer, was born on August 16, 1929 in New Jersey, USA. Evans is one of the most influential jazz artists of the 20th century. His musical works are so sophisticated and unusual that few pianists are able to inherit and borrow his ideas. He could masterfully swing and improvise like no other, at the same time, melody and simplicity were far from alien to him - his interpretations of famous ballads gained popularity even among non-jazz audiences. Evans was trained as an academic pianist, and after serving in the army began to appear in public with various obscure musicians as a jazz performer. Success came to him in 1958 when Evans joined the Miles Davis sextet, along with Cannonball Oderley and John Coltrane. Evans is considered the creator of the chamber jazz trio genre, which is characterized by a lead improvising piano, as well as solo drums and double bass along with it. His musical style brought a variety of colors to jazz music - from inventive graceful improvisations to lyrically-colored tones.
To nai best albums Evans can be attributed to his solo recording of "Alone" (1968), made in man-orchestra mode, "Waltz for Debby" (1961), "New Jazz Conceptions" (1956) and "Explorations" (1961).
Dizzy Gillespie (Dizzy Gillespie)
Dizzy Gillespie was born on October 21, 1917 in Chirow, USA. Dizzy has a lot of merit in the history of the development of jazz music: he is known as a trumpeter, vocalist, arranger, composer and leader of orchestras. Gillespie also co-founded improvisational jazz with Charlie Parker. Like many jazzmen, Gillespie started out playing in clubs. Then he moved to live in New York and successfully entered the local orchestra. He was known for his original, if not to say buffoonish, behavior, which successfully turned the people who worked with him against him. From the first orchestra, in which a very talented, but peculiar trumpeter Dizz went on tour in England and France, he was almost kicked out. The musicians of his second orchestra also did not react quite cordially to Gillespie's mockery of their playing. In addition, few people understood his musical experiments - some called his music "Chinese". Collaboration with the second orchestra ended in a fight between Cab Calloway (his leader) and Dizzy during one of the concerts, after which Gillespie was expelled from the band with a bang. After Gillespie creates his own group, in which he and other musicians work to diversify the traditional jazz language. Thus, the style known as bebop was born, on the style of which Dizzy actively worked.
The best albums of the brilliant trumpeter include "Sonny Side Up" (1957), "Afro" (1954), "Birk's Works" (1957), "World Statesman" (1956) and "Dizzy and Strings" (1954).
For decades, the music of freedom, performed by dizzying jazz virtuosos, has been a huge part of the music scene and just human life. The names of the musicians that you can see above are immortalized in the memory of many generations and, most likely, the same number of generations will inspire and amaze with their skill. Perhaps the secret is that the inventors of trumpets, saxophones, double basses, pianos, and drums knew that some things could not be done on these instruments, but forgot to tell jazz musicians about it.
The history of Soviet (after 1991 - Russian) jazz is not devoid of originality and differs from the periodization of American and European jazz.
Music historians divide American jazz into three periods:
- traditional Jazz, including New Orleans style (including Dixieland), Chicago style and swing - with late XIX V. until the 1940s;
- modern(modern jazz), including the styles of bebop, cool, progressive and hard-boys - from the beginning of the 40s. and until the end of the 50s. XX century;
- avant-garde(free jazz, modal style, fusion and free improvisation) - since the early 1960s.
It should be noted that the above are only temporary boundaries for the transformation of a particular style or direction, although they all coexisted and continue to exist to this day.
With all due respect to Soviet jazz and its masters, it should be honestly admitted that Soviet jazz in the Soviet years was always secondary, based on the ideas that originally arose in the United States. And only after Russian jazz had come a long way, by the end of the 20th century. we can talk about the originality of jazz, which is performed by Russian musicians. Using the richness of jazz accumulated over a century, they move their own way.
The birth of jazz in Russia took place a quarter of a century later than its overseas counterpart, and the period of archaic jazz that the Americans went through is not at all present in the history of Russian jazz. At that time, when a musical novelty was just heard in young Russia, America was dancing to jazz with might and main, and there were so many orchestras that it was not possible to count their number. Jazz music was gaining more and more audience, countries and continents. Much more fortunate European public. Already in the 1910s, and especially during the First World War (1914-1918), American musicians amazed the Old World with their art, and the recording industry also contributed to the spread of jazz music.
October 1, 1922 is considered the birthday of Soviet jazz, when Great Hall State Institute theatrical art gave a concert "The first eccentric jazz band in the RSFSR". That's how they wrote this word - jazz band. This orchestra was organized by a poet, translator, geographer-traveler and dancer Valentin Parnakh(1891-1951). In 1921 he returned to Russia from Paris, where he had lived since 1913 and was acquainted with outstanding artists, writers, and poets. It was in France that this outstanding and highly educated man, slightly mysterious, who loved everything avant-garde, met the first jazz guest performers from America and, carried away by this music, decided to acquaint Russian listeners with musical exoticism. The new orchestra required unusual instruments, and Parnakh brought to Moscow a banjo, sets of trumpet mutes, tomtom with foot pedal, cymbals and noise instruments. Parnakh, who was not a musician, had a utilitarian attitude to jazz music. “He was attracted to this music by unusual, broken rhythms and new, as he said, “eccentric” dances,” he later recalled famous writer, playwright, screenwriter Yevgeny Gabrilovich, who for some time worked as a pianist in the orchestra of Valentin Parnakh.
Music, according to Parnakh, was supposed to be an accompaniment to plastic movements, different from classical ballet. From the very beginning of the existence of the orchestra, the conductor argued that a jazz group should be a "mimic orchestra", so that in the current sense it is difficult to call such an orchestra a jazz orchestra in full. Most likely, it was a noise orchestra. Perhaps for this reason, jazz in Russia initially took root in the theatrical environment, and for three years the Parnakh orchestra performed in performances staged by theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold. In addition, the orchestra sometimes participated in carnival celebrations, performed at the Press House, where the Moscow intelligentsia gathered. At the concert dedicated to the opening of the 5th Congress of the Comintern, the orchestra members performed fragments from Darius Milhaud's music for the ballet "Bull on the Roof" - a rather difficult composition to perform. The Jazz Band of Parnakh was the first group invited to the State Academic Drama Theatre, however, after some time, the applied value of the orchestra did not suit the leader, and Vsevolod Meyerhold was annoyed that as soon as the orchestra began to play, all the attention of the audience was riveted to the musicians, not for stage action. Despite the fact that the press noted the successful use of music for “manifesting a dramatic rhythm, beating the pulse of a performance,” director Meyerhold lost interest in the orchestra, and the leader of the first jazz band in Russia, after a great and noisy success, returned to poetry. Valentin Parnakh was the first Russian author of articles about new music, even wrote poems about jazz. There are no recordings of the Parnakh ensemble, since recording in the USSR appeared only in 1927, when the ensemble had already disintegrated. By this time, much more professional performers had arisen in the country than "The first eccentric orchestra in the RSFSR - the jazz band of Valentin Parnakh." These were orchestras Teplitsky, Landsberg, Utesov, Tsfasman.
In the late 1920s enthusiasts were found in the USSR, musicians appeared who played what was “on the ear”, which somehow came from jazz Mecca, from America, where large swing orchestras began to appear at that time. In 1926 in Moscow, a graduate of the conservatory and a brilliant virtuoso pianist Alexander Tsfasman(1906-1971) organized "AMA Jazz" (at the cooperative music publishing house of the Association of Moscow Authors). It was the first professional jazz orchestra in Soviet Russia. The musicians performed the compositions of the leader himself, his arrangements of American plays and the first musical opuses of Soviet composers who wrote music in a new genre for them. The orchestra successfully performed on the stages of large restaurants, in the foyer of the largest cinemas. Next to the name of Alexander Tsfasman, you can repeatedly repeat the word "first". In 1928, the orchestra performed on the radio - for the first time Soviet jazz sounded on the air, and then the first recordings of jazz music appeared ("Hallelujah" by Vincent Youmans and "Seminola" by Harry Warren). Alexander Tsfasman was the author of the first jazz radio broadcast in our country. In 1937, recordings of Tsfasman's works were made: "On a Long Journey", "On the Seashore", "Unsuccessful Date" (it is enough to recall the lines: "We were both: I was at the pharmacy, and I was looking for you in the cinema, so, that means tomorrow - in the same place, at the same hour! Tsfasman's adaptation of the Polish tango, colloquially known as "The Burnt Sun", enjoyed continued success. In 1936, A. Tsfasman's orchestra was recognized as the best in the show of jazz orchestras. In essence, it could be called a jazz festival organized by the Moscow Club of Art Masters.
In 1939, the Tsfasman Orchestra was invited to work on the All-Union Radio, and during the Great Patriotic War, the musicians of the orchestra traveled to the front. Concerts were held in the front line and on the front line, in forest glades and in dugouts. At that time, Soviet songs were performed: "Dark Night", "Dugout", "My Favorite". Music helped the fighters for a short time to escape from the terrible military everyday life, helped to remember their home, family, their loved ones. It was hard to work in military hospitals, but even here the musicians brought the joy of meeting real art. But the main work for the orchestra remained work on the radio, performances at factories, factories and recruiting centers.
The wonderful Tsfasman orchestra, which consisted of talented jazz musicians, existed until 1946.
In 1947-1952. Tsfasman headed the symphonic jazz of the Hermitage Variety Theatre. In a difficult time for jazz (it was the 1950s), during the Cold War with the United States and the West, when publications began to appear in the Soviet press discrediting and discrediting jazz, the leader of the orchestra worked on the concert stage as a jazz pianist. Then the maestro assembled an instrumental quartet for studio work, the hits of which were included in the fund of Soviet music:
"Cheerful evening", "Waiting", "Always with you". Romances and popular songs of Alexander Tsfasman, music for performances and films are known and loved.
In 2000, in the "Anthology of Jazz" series, Tsfasman's album "Burnt Sun" was released, recorded on CD, which includes the composer's best instrumental and vocal pieces. About Tsfasman in the book "Stars of the Soviet stage" (1986) wrote G. Skorokhodov. A. N. Batashev, the author of one of the most authoritative publications - "Soviet Jazz" (1972) - spoke in his book about the life and work of Alexander Tsfasman. In 2006, the book "Alexander Tsfasman: Coryphaeus of Soviet Jazz" was published by Doctor of Philosophy, writer and musicologist A. N. Golubev.
Simultaneously with Tsfasman's "AMA Jazz" in Moscow, in 1927 a jazz group arose in Leningrad as well. It was "The first concert jazz band" pianist Leopold Teplitsky(1890-1965). Even earlier, in 1926, Teplitsky visited New York and Philadelphia, where he was sent by the People's Commissariat for Education. The purpose of the trip was to study music for silent film illustrations. For several months, the musician absorbed all the rhythms of new music for himself, studied with American jazzmen. Returning to Russia, L. Teplitsky organized an orchestra of professional musicians (teachers of the conservatory, music schools), who, unfortunately, did not feel the jazz specifics of the music they performed. The musicians, who always played only from notes, could not imagine that the same melody could be played in a new way each time, that is, there could be no question of improvisation. The merit of Teplitsky can be considered that for the first time the musicians performed in concert halls, and although the sound of the orchestra was far from a true jazz band, it was no longer the eccentric art of the noise orchestra of Valentin Parnakh. The repertoire of the Leopold Teplitsky orchestra consisted of plays by American authors (the conductor brought back invaluable luggage - a pile of jazz records and a whole folder of orchestra arrangements Paul Whiteman). Teplitsky's jazz band did not last long, only a few months, but even during this short time the musicians introduced listeners to modern American dance music, to beautiful Broadway melodies. After 1929, the fate of Leopold Teplitsky developed dramatically: arrest on a false denunciation, the condemnation by the NKVD "troika" for ten years in camps, the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. After the conclusion, Leopold Yakovlevich was forced to settle in Petrozavodsk (they were not allowed to enter Leningrad). The musical past has not been forgotten. Teplitsky organized a symphony orchestra in Karelia, taught at the conservatory, wrote music, and conducted radio broadcasts. The International Jazz Festival "Stars and Us" (organized in 1986 in Petrozavodsk) since 2004 has been named after the pioneer of Russian jazz Leopold Teplitsky.
Music criticism of the late 1920s could not appreciate the new phenomenon of culture. Here is an excerpt from that time from a characteristic review of jazz: “As a means of caricature and parody ... as a rough, but biting and piquant rhythmic and timbre apparatus, suitable for dance music and for cheap “musical underpaintings” in theatrical use, - a jazz band has its own reason. Beyond these limits, its artistic value is not great.
Added fuel to the fire and Russian Association proletarian musicians (RAPM), which asserted the "proletarian line" in music, rejecting everything that did not correspond to their often dogmatic views on art. In 1928, the Pravda newspaper published an article entitled "On the Music of the Fat" by the famous Soviet writer Maxim Gorky. It was an angry pamphlet denouncing the "world of predators", "the power of the fat." The proletarian writer lived at that time in Italy, on the island of Capri, and was most likely familiar with the so-called "restaurant music", which was far removed from genuine jazz. Some meticulous historians of jazz claim that the writer was simply "tired" of the foxtrots, which were played all the time on the first floor of the villa by Gorky's unlucky stepson. One way or another, but the statement of the proletarian writer was immediately picked up by the leaders of the RAPM. And for a long time jazz in our country was called "the music of the fat", not knowing who was the true author of jazz music, in which disenfranchised sections of American society it was born.
Despite the difficult critical atmosphere, jazz continued to develop in the USSR. There were many people who treated jazz as an art. One could say about them that they had an "innate sense of jazz" that cannot be developed by exercises: it is either there or it is not. As the composer said Giya Kancheli(born 1935), “it is impossible to impose this feeling, it is useless to teach it, because there is something primordial, natural here.”
In Leningrad, in the apartment of a student of the Agricultural Institute Heinrich Terpilovsky(1908-1989) in the late 1920s. there was a home jazz club where amateur musicians listened to jazz, argued a lot and passionately about new music and sought to comprehend the complexity of jazz as an artistic phenomenon. The young musicians were so carried away by jazz ideas that soon an ensemble was formed that created the jazz repertoire for the first time. The ensemble was called the "Leningrad jazz chapel", whose musical directors were Georgy Landsberg(1904-1938) and Boris Krupyshev. Landsberg back in the 1920s. lived in Czechoslovakia, where George's father worked in the trade mission. The young man studied at the Prague Polytechnic Institute, went in for sports, foreign languages and music. It was in Prague that Landsberg heard American jazz - "Chocolate Boys" Sam Wooding. Prague has always been a musical city: jazz orchestras, ensembles were already familiar with the overseas novelty. So Georgy Landsberg, having returned to his homeland, was already “armed” with more than a dozen jazz standards and wrote most of the arrangements himself. He was helped N. Minh And S. Kagan. An atmosphere of creative competition reigned in the team: the musicians offered their own versions of arrangements, each proposal was hotly discussed. The rehearsal process, at times, interested young musicians even more than the performances themselves. "Jazz Capella" performed works not only foreign composers, but also original plays by Soviet authors: "Jazz Suite" by A. Zhivotov, lyrical play by N. Minkh "I'm Alone", "Jazz Fever" by G. Terpilovsky. Even in the Leningrad press about the ensemble there were approving reviews, in which excellent performers were noted, who played smoothly, rhythmically, firmly and dynamically. The "Leningrad Jazz Capella" successfully toured in Moscow, Murmansk, Petrozavodsk, arranged "viewing" concerts, introducing listeners to "cultural chamber-type jazz". The repertoire was selected very carefully, taking into account concert activities, but "academism" did not bring commercial success, the audience was not ready to listen to difficult music. Administrators of theaters and clubs quickly lost interest in the ensemble, and the musicians began to move to other orchestras. Georgy Landsberg worked with several musicians at the Astoria restaurant, where, at the dawn of Russian jazz, jam sessions were held with foreign jazzmen who arrived in the city on cruise ships.
In 1930, many of the musicians of G. Landsberg moved to the more successful orchestra of Leonid Utesov, and Landsberg dissolved his orchestra and worked as an engineer for some time (the education received at the Polytechnic Institute came in handy). The Jazz Capella as a concert group was revived again with the arrival of the talented pianist and arranger Simon Kagan, and when G. Landsberg reappeared in the ensemble in 1934, the Capella sounded in a new way. With brilliant invention, the pianist made arrangements for Bond Leonid Andreevich Diderikhs(1907-?). He made instrumental arrangements of songs by Soviet composers, creatively enriching each score. The original instrumental pieces by L. Diderikhs are also known - "Puma" and "Under the Roofs of Paris". The band's tours throughout the Soviet Union, which lasted ten months, brought great success to the team. In 1935, the term of the contract with the Leningrad Radio, whose regular orchestra was the Jazz Capella, ended. The musicians again dispersed to other orchestras. In 1938, G. Landsberg was arrested, accused of espionage and shot (rehabilitated in 1956). The chapel ceased to exist, but remained in the history of music as one of the first professional groups that contributed to the development of Soviet jazz, performing works by Russian authors. Georgy Landsberg was a wonderful teacher who brought up excellent musicians who later worked in pop and jazz orchestras.
Jazz is known to be improvisational music. In Russia in the 20-30s. 20th century there were few musicians who mastered spontaneous solo improvisation. The recordings of those years are mainly represented by large orchestras, whose musicians played their parts from notes, including solo “improvisations”. Instrumental pieces were a rarity, accompaniment to vocalists prevailed. For example, "Tea Jazz", organized in 1929. Leonid Utyosov(1895-1982) and trumpeter-soloist of the orchestra of the Maly Opera Theater Yakov Skomorovsky(1889-1955), was a prime example such an orchestra. Yes, and in its name it contained a transcript: theatrical jazz. Suffice it to recall Grigory Alexandrov's comedy "Merry Fellows", where the main roles were played by Lyubov Orlova, Leonid Utesov and his famous orchestra. After 1934, when the “jazz comedy” (as the director first defined the genre of his film) was watched by the whole country, the popularity of Leonid Utyosov as a film actor became incredible. Leonid Osipovich had acted in films before, but in "Merry Fellows" the rustic protagonist - the shepherd Kostya Potekhin - was understandable to the general public: he sang beautiful songs inspired by the composer I. O. Dunaevsky, joked rudely, performed typical Hollywood tricks. All this delighted the audience, although few people knew that such a style of films had long been invented in Hollywood. Director Grigory Alexandrov only had to transfer it to Soviet soil.
In the 1930s The name "Tea Jazz" became extremely popular. Entrepreneurial artists often assigned this name to their orchestras for purely commercial purposes, but they were far from the truly theatrical performances of Leonid Utyosov's orchestra, which sought to create musical revues held together by a single stage action. Such theatricalization favorably distinguished Utyosov's entertainment orchestra from the instrumental nature of the orchestras of L. Teplitsky and G. Landsberg, and was more understandable to the Soviet public. Moreover, for joint work, Leonid Utesov attracted famous and talented Soviet songwriters, such as Isaak Dunayevsky, brothers Dmitriy And Daniil Pokrassy, Konstantin Listov, Matvey Blanter, Evgeny Zharkovsky. The songs that sounded in the programs of the orchestra, beautifully arranged, became extremely popular and popularly loved.
The orchestra of Leonid Utyosov had excellent musicians who had to master a new musical genre. Subsequently, the artists of "Tea-Jazz" created the national stage and jazz. Among them was Nikolai Minkh(1912-1982). He was a wonderful pianist who went through "his unforgettable universities," as the musician himself recalled, side by side with Isaac Dunayevsky. This experience then helped Minkh to lead the orchestra at the Moscow Variety Theater, and in the 1960s. engage in composing activities, create musical comedies and operettas.
A feature of Soviet jazz in the 1930s-1940s. it can be considered that jazz at that time was “song jazz” and was associated, rather, with the type of orchestra, in which saxophones and drums were indispensable participants, in addition to the main instruments. It was said about the musicians of such orchestras that “they play jazz”, and not jazz. The song form, which was given great importance, was perhaps the form, the path that opened jazz music to millions of listeners. But still, this music - song, dance, heterogeneous and hybrid - was far from real American jazz. Yes, and she could not in a "pure form" take root in Russia. Even Leonid Osipovich Utyosov himself claimed that authentic early American jazz was alien and incomprehensible music for the majority of the Soviet public. Leonid Utyosov - a man of theater, vaudeville, a fan of synthetic action - connected the theater with jazz, and jazz - with the theater. This is how "Jazz at the Turn", "Music Store" appeared - cheerful programs in which miraculously combined music and humor. Composer I. O. Dunayevsky sometimes wittily arranged not only folk and popular songs: for example, the “jazzed” “Song of the Indian Guest” from the opera “Sadko”, “Duke’s Song” from “Rigoletto”, jazz fantasy “Eugene Onegin.
The well-known jazz historian A. N. Batashev writes in his book “Soviet Jazz”: “By the mid-30s, L. Utesov’s concert practice laid the foundations of a genre built on domestic musical and poetic material, synthesizing individual elements of foreign theatrical performances, variety and jazz. This genre, first called “theatrical jazz”, and later, after the war, simply “ pop music", over the years, he developed more and more and lived according to his own laws."
A special page in the life of the orchestra conducted by Utyosov is the years of the Great Patriotic War. In the shortest possible time, the program “Beat the Enemy!” Was prepared, with which the musicians performed in the Hermitage Garden, at railway stations for soldiers leaving for the front, in the outback - in the Urals and Siberia, then the performances of the artists took place in the army, in the frontline zone . During the war, artists were both musicians and fighters. Many groups went to the front as part of large concert teams. The popular jazz orchestras of Alexander Tsfasman, Boris Karamyshev, Claudia Shulzhenko, Boris Rensky, Alexander Varlamov, Dmitry Pokrass, Isaac Dunayevsky have visited many fronts. Often, musicians at the front had to work on the construction of military fortifications, directly participate in military operations and ... die.
The famous Soviet composer Vano Muradeli, who returned from a trip to the front, testified: “The interest of our soldiers and commanders in culture, in art, in particular in music, is very great. Their great love is enjoyed by performing groups working for the front, ensembles, jazz. Now none of the critics who previously expressed doubts about the significance of jazz music asked the question "Do we need jazz?" Artists not only supported morale with their art, but also raised funds for the construction of aircraft and tanks. At the front, the Utesov aircraft "Merry Fellows" was known. Leonid Utesov was an outstanding master of the Soviet stage, a favorite of many generations of Soviet listeners, who knew how to "fuse" himself with the song. So he called his autobiographical book - “With a song through life”, published in 1961. And in 1982, Yu. A. Dmitriev wrote the book “Leonid Utesov”, which tells about the famous band leader, singer and actor.
Of course, it can be argued that the orchestras of that time cannot be fully considered jazz, since, playing from the notes, the musicians were deprived of the opportunity to improvise, which is a violation of the most important principle of jazz music. But jazz music cannot always be improvisational, because every musician of the orchestra, neglecting his part, cannot improvise. The Duke Ellington Orchestra, for example, often performed pieces in which the solo parts were written from beginning to end by the author. But no one would ever think that it was not jazz! And there are many such examples, because belonging to jazz is also determined by the peculiar nature of the musical performing language, its intonational and rhythmic features.
1930s in the USSR were years of unprecedented upsurge in all areas of the life of the Soviet people. During the years of the first five-year plans, the enthusiasm of the people was great: new cities, factories, factories were built, railways were laid. This socialist optimism, unknown to the whole world, demanded its own musical "decoration", new moods, new songs. Artistic life in the USSR has always been under close attention party leadership of the country. In 1932, it was decided to liquidate the RAPM and form a single Union of Soviet Composers. The resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations” made it possible to take a number of organizational measures relating to mass genres, including jazz music. 1930s in the USSR played an important role in the development of Soviet jazz. The musicians made attempts to create their own and original repertoire, but the main task for them at that time was to master the skill of jazz performance: the ability to build elementary jazz phrases that allow improvising, maintaining rhythmic continuity in the group and solo playing - everything that makes up real jazz, even if it's notated.
In 1934, Moscow posters invited the audience to a concert by Alexander Varlamov's jazz orchestra.
Alexander Vladimirovich Varlamov was born in 1904 in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk). The Varlamov family was famous. The great-grandfather of Alexander Vladimirovich was a composer, a classic of Russian romance (“Red Sundress”, “Along the street a snowstorm sweeps”, “At dawn you don’t wake her”, “A lonely sail turns white”). The mother of the future leader of the orchestra was a famous opera singer, his father was a lawyer. Parents took care of the musical education of their son, especially since the young man was very capable, and the desire to become a professional musician did not leave the young talent all the years of study: first at a music school, then at GITIS and at the famous Gnesinka. Already in his student years, Varlamov watched the revue "Chocolate Boys" by Sam Wooding, which made an indelible impression on the student. Varlamov, having received an excellent musical education, decided to organize an ensemble similar to the ensemble "Hot Seven" familiar from gramophone records and radio programs Louis Armstrong. The "guiding star" for Varlamov was the orchestra Duke Ellington, who admired the Russian musician. The young composer-conductor carefully selected musicians and repertoire for his orchestra. Five years have passed since Varlamov graduated from Gnesinka, and a jazz orchestra at the Central House of the Red Army was created. It was an instrumental orchestra, which, like many orchestras of that time, did not gravitate toward theatrical jazz. The expressiveness of the music was achieved through beautiful melodies and arrangements. This is how the plays were born: “At the Carnival”, “Dixie Lee”, “Evening Leaves”, “Life is Full of Happiness”, “Blue Moon”, “Sweet Su”. Varlamov translated some American jazz standards into Russian and sang himself. The musician did not have outstanding vocal abilities, but sometimes he allowed himself to be recorded on records, performing songs melodically accurately and convincingly in content.
In 1937-1939. Varlamov's career developed quite successfully: the musician first led the septet ("Seven"), then he was the chief conductor of the jazz orchestra of the All-Union Radio Committee, in 1940-1941 gg. - chief conductor USSR State Jazz Orchestra. However, when the war began, many musicians of the orchestra were called to the front. Varlamov did not give up. He organized from among the musicians freed from military service, and former wounded, unusual (one might say, strange) "Melody Orchestra": three violins, viola, cello, saxophone and two pianos. The musicians performed with great success in the Hermitage, the Metropol, in military units and hospitals. Varlamov was a patriot. The musician donated his own money savings for the construction of the Soviet Composer tank.
Hard times in the history of our country have echoed in the fate of millions of talented, successful and famous people. The composer-conductor Alexander Varlamov did not escape the cruel fate, in 1943 When the musicians were rehearsing George Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blues, the leader of the Melody Orchestra was arrested. The reason was the denunciation of the cellist, who reported that Varlamov often listens to foreign radio broadcasts, allegedly waiting for the arrival of the Germans, etc. The authorities believed this scoundrel, and Varlamov was first sent to logging in the Northern Urals, where he worked for the awarded eight years. A great outlet for the prisoners was the orchestra, assembled from musicians and singers of the camp, who were just as slandered as the leader of this group. This extraordinary orchestra brought great joy to all nine camp points. After serving his term, Alexander Vladimirovich hoped to return to Moscow. But there was still a link to Kazakhstan, where the musician worked in small towns: he taught children and youth music, composed works for the Russian drama theater. Only in 1956 city, after rehabilitation, Varlamov was able to return to Moscow, and immediately joined the active creative life, composing music for cinema (animated: "Wonder Woman", "Puck! Puck!", "The Fox and the Beaver", etc.), drama theaters, variety orchestras, television productions, in 1990 Not long before Varlamov's death, the last record of jazz and symphonic jazz music by the remarkable composer and conductor was released.
But let's go back to the pre-war years, when several jazz orchestras appeared in the Soviet republics at once, in 1939 was organized USSR State Jazz. It was a prototype of future pop-symphony orchestras, the repertoire of which consisted of transcriptions of classical works for large symphonic jazz. "Serious" repertoire was created by the head of the orchestra Victor Knushevitsky (1906-1974). For USSR State Jazz speaking mainly on the radio, composers wrote I. O. Dunayevsky, Yu. Milyutin, M. Blanter, A. Tsfasman etc. On the Leningrad radio in 1939 Nikolai Minkh organized a jazz orchestra.
Other union republics did not lag behind. In Baku, Tofig Guliyev created State Jazz Orchestra of the Azerbaijan SSR. A similar orchestra appeared in Armenia under the direction of Artemy Ayvazyan. Their republican orchestras appeared in the Moldavian SSR, in Ukraine. One of the famous allied jazz orchestras was a team from Western Belarus led by a first-class trumpeter, violinist, composer Eddie Rosner.
Eddie (Adolf) Ignatievich Rosner(1910-1976) was born in Germany to a Pole family, studied violin at the Berlin Conservatory. He mastered the pipe on his own. His idols were famous Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Bunny Berigen. Having received an excellent musical education, Eddie played for some time in one of the European orchestras, then organized his own band in Poland. When did the second World War, the orchestra had to escape from fascist reprisals, since most of the musicians were Jews, and jazz in fascist Germany was banned as a "non-Aryan art." So the musicians found refuge in Soviet Belarus. For the next two years, the band successfully toured in Moscow, Leningrad, and during the war - on the fronts and in the rear. Eddie Rosner, who was called “white Armstrong” in his youth, was a talented artist who knew how to win over the audience with his skill, charm, smile, and cheerfulness. Rosner is a musician, according to the master of the Russian stage Yuri Saulsky,"possessed a true jazz base, taste." The hits of the program enjoyed great success among the listeners: “Caravan” by Tizol - Ellington, “St. Louis Blues” by William Handy, “Serenade” by Toselli, “Tales of the Vienna Woods” by Johann Strauss, the song of Rosner himself “Quiet Water”, “Cowboy Song”, "Mandolin, Guitar and Bass" by Albert Harris. During the war years, the repertoire of the orchestras began to use more often the plays of the allies: American and British authors. There were many gramophone records with recordings of domestic and foreign instrumental pieces. Many orchestras have played music from American film"Sun Valley Serenade", which starred the famous Glenn Miller Big Band.
In 1946, when jazz began to be persecuted, when jazzmen were accused of cosmopolitanism and the band was dissolved, Eddie Rosner decided to return to Poland. But he was charged with treason and sent to Magadan. From 1946 to 1953 virtuoso trumpeter Eddie Rosner was in the Gulag. The local authorities instructed the musician to form an orchestra from the prisoners. So eight long years passed. After his release and rehabilitation, Rosner again led a big band in Moscow, but he himself played the trumpet less and less: the scurvy suffered during the camp years affected him. But the popularity of the orchestra was great: Rosner's songs enjoyed constant success, the musicians starred in 1957 in the popular film Carnival Night. In the 1960s musicians played in the orchestra, who would later make up the color and glory of Russian jazz: multi-instrumentalist David Goloshchekin, trumpeter Konstantin Nosov, saxophonist Gennady Holstein. Great arrangements for the band wrote Vitaly Dolgov And Alexey Mazhukov,
which, according to Rosner, arranged no worse than the Americans. The maestro himself was aware of what was going on in world jazz, and strove to include the best examples of real jazz in the programs, for which Rosner was repeatedly reproached in the press for neglecting the Soviet repertoire. In 1973, Eddie Rosner returned to his homeland, to West Berlin. But the career of a musician in Germany did not develop: the artist was no longer young, he was not known to anyone, he could not find a job in his specialty. For some time he worked as an entertainer in the theater, as a head waiter in a hotel. In 1976, the musician died. In memory of the wonderful trumpeter, band leader, composer and talented director of his programs in 1993 in Moscow, in the concert hall "Russia", a wonderful show "In the company of Eddie Rosner" was held. In the same 1993, Yu. Zeitlin's book "The Rise and Fall of the Great Trumpeter Eddie Rosner" was published. About a jazz virtuoso, a real showman, a man with a complex adventurous character and a difficult fate, Dmitry Dragilev's documentary novel, published in 2011, tells the story - "Eddie Rosner: We smack jazz, the cholera is clear!"
A good jazz orchestra is difficult to create, but it is even more difficult to maintain it for decades. The longevity of such an orchestra depends, first of all, on the originality of the leader - a person and a musician who is in love with music. Oleg Lundstrem, the composer, band leader, head of the world's oldest jazz orchestra, listed in the Guinness Book of Records, can be called a legendary jazzman.
Oleg Leonidovich Lundstrem(1916-2005) was born in Chita, in the family of a physics teacher Leonid Frantsevich Lundstrem, a Russified Swede. The parents of the future musician worked on the CER (Chinese Eastern Railway, connecting Chita and Vladivostok through China). For some time the family lived in Harbin, where a large and diverse Russian diaspora gathered. Both Soviet citizens and Russian emigrants lived here. The Lundstrem family has always loved music: his father played the piano, and his mother sang. Children were also introduced to music, but they decided to give the children a “strong” education: both sons studied at the Commercial School. Oleg Lundstrem's first exposure to jazz was in 1932, when a teenager bought a record of Duke Ellington's orchestra "Dear Old South" (Dear Old Southland). Oleg Leonidovich later recalled: “This record played the role of a detonator. She literally changed my whole life. I discovered a previously unfamiliar musical universe.
At the Harbin Polytechnic Institute, where the future patriarch of Soviet jazz received his higher education, there were many like-minded friends who wanted to play their favorite music. So a combo was created of nine Russian students who played at parties, dance floors, festive balls, sometimes the team performed on local radio. The musicians learned to “remove” popular jazz pieces from records, made arrangements of Soviet songs, primarily I. Dunaevsky, although later Oleg Lundstrem recalled that he always did not understand why the melodies of George Gershwin were ideal for jazz, but the songs of Soviet composers were not. Most of the members of the first Lundstrem orchestra were not professional musicians, they received a technical education, but they were so passionate about jazz that they firmly decided to deal only with this music. Gradually, the team became famous: they worked in the dance halls of Shanghai, toured in Hong Kong, Indochina, and Ceylon. The head of the orchestra - Oleg Lundstrem - began to be called the "King of Jazz of the Far East."
When the Great Patriotic War began, young people - Soviet citizens - applied to the Red Army, but the consul announced that while musicians were more needed in China. It was a difficult time for the musicians: there was little work, the public did not want to have fun and dance, the economy was overtaken by inflation. Only in 1947 did the musicians receive permission to return to the USSR, but not to Moscow, as they wanted, but to Kazan (the Moscow authorities were afraid that the "Shanghai" might be recruited spies). At first, there was a decision to make a jazz orchestra of the Tatar ASSR, but the following year, 1948, the Decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the opera “Great Friendship” by Muradeli” was issued, condemning formalism in music. In the Decree, the opera, which Stalin did not like, was called "a vicious anti-artistic work", "nourished by the influence of decadent Western European and American music." And the musicians of the Lundstrem orchestra were offered to “wait with jazz”.
But it's never too late to learn! And Oleg Lundstrem entered the Kazan Conservatory in the class of composition and conducting. During their studies, the musicians managed to perform in Kazan, to record on the radio, gaining a reputation as the best swing orchestra. Twelve Tatar folk songs were especially appreciated, which Lundstrem brilliantly arranged “to jazz”. They learned about Lundstrem and his "conspiratorial big band" in Moscow. In 1956, jazzmen arrived in Moscow in the former "Chinese" composition and became the orchestra of the Rosconcert. Over the years, the composition of the orchestra has changed. In the 1950s "shone": tenor saxophonist Igor Lundstrem, trumpeters Alexey Kotikov And Innokenty Gorbuntsov, bass player Alexander Gravis, drummer Zinovy Khazankin. soloists in the 1960s. there were young improvisers: saxophonists Georgy Garanyan And Alexey Zubov, trombonist Konstantin Bakholdin, pianist Nikolay Kapustin. Later, in the 1970s, the orchestra was replenished with saxophonists Gennady Golstein, Roman Kunsman, Stanislav Grigoriev.
The Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra led an active touring and concert life, forced to reckon with the tastes of a wide audience, who perceived jazz as an entertaining, song and dance art. Therefore, in the 1960-1970s. not only jazz musicians and singers worked in the team, but also pop artists. The Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra has always prepared two programs: a popular song and entertainment program (for the inhabitants of the hinterland) and an instrumental jazz program, which was a huge success in Moscow, Leningrad and large cities of the Union, where the public was already familiar with jazz art.
The orchestra's instrumental program consisted of classical jazz pieces (from the repertoire of the big bands of Count Basie and Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington), as well as works written by the band members and maestro Lundstrem himself. These were "Fantasy about Moscow", "Fantasy on the themes of Tsfasman's songs", "Spring is coming" - a jazz miniature based on a song by Isaac Dunayevsky. In musical suites and fantasies - works large form- musicians-soloists could show their skills. It was real instrumental jazz. And young jazzmen, who will then make up the color of Russian jazz, - Igor Yakushenko, Anatoly Kroll, Georgy Garanyan- composed their works inventively and with great taste. Oleg Lundstrem "discovered" talented vocalists who performed pop songs. The orchestra sang at different times Maya Kristalinskaya, Gyuli Chokheli, Valery Obodzinsky, Irina Otieva. And although the song material was impeccable, the big band and its instrumental soloists were always in the spotlight.
The musical "university" of Oleg Lundstrem over the several decades of the orchestra's existence has been passed by many Russian musicians, the list of which would take more than one page, but the band would not sound so professional if it were not for the work of one of the best arrangers - Vitaly Dolgov(1937-2007). Critic G. Dolotkazin wrote about the work of the master: “The style of V. Dolgov does not repeat the traditional interpretation of a large orchestra, divided into sections (trumpets, trombones, saxophones), between which there are constant dialogues and roll calls. V. Dolgov is characterized by the principle of through development of the material. In each individual episode of the play, he finds a characteristic orchestral fabric, original timbre combinations. V. Dolgov often uses the techniques of polyphony, superimposing layers of orchestral sonorities. All this gives harmony and integrity to his arrangements.
By the end of the 1970s, when a stable jazz audience was developing in Russia, festivals began to be held, Oleg Lundstrem abandoned pop numbers and devoted himself entirely to jazz. The maestro himself composed music for the orchestra: Mirage, Interlude, Humoresque, March Foxtrot, Impromptu, Lilac Blooms, Bukhara Ornament, In the Mountains of Georgia. It should be noted that to this day the Oleg Lundstrem Memorial Orchestra performs works composed by the master of Russian jazz with great success. In the 1970s composers gravitating towards jazz appeared in the USSR: Arno Babajanyan, Kara Karaev, Andrey Eshpay, Murad Kazhlaev, Igor Yakushenko. Their works were also performed by the Lundstrem Orchestra. The musicians often toured abroad, performed at domestic and foreign jazz festivals: Tallinn-67, Jazz Jamboree-72 in Warsaw, Prague-78 and Prague-86, Sofia-86, Jazz in Duketown-88" in the Netherlands, "Grenoble-90" in France, at the Duke Ellington Memorial Festival in Washington in 1991. Over the forty years of its existence, Oleg Lundstrem's orchestra has visited more than three hundred cities of our country and dozens of foreign countries. It is gratifying to note that the illustrious group was often recorded on records: "Oleg Lundstrem's Orchestra", two albums, united by the same name "Memory of Musicians" (dedicated to Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington), "In Our Time", "In Rich Tones", etc.
Batashev A.N. Soviet jazz. Historical outline. S. 43.
As one of the most revered forms musical art in America, jazz laid the foundation for an entire industry, introducing to the world numerous names of brilliant composers, instrumentalists, and vocalists, and spawning a wide range of genres. The 15 most influential jazz musicians are responsible for a global phenomenon that has occurred over the last century in the history of the genre.
Jazz developed in the later years of the 19th century and early 20th century as a combination of classical European and American sounds with African folk motives. The songs were performed with a syncopated rhythm, giving impetus to the development, and later the formation of large orchestras to perform it. Music has taken a big step forward from ragtime to modern jazz.
The influence of West African musical culture is evident in the way music is written and how it is performed. Polyrhythm, improvisation and syncopation are what characterize jazz. Over the past century, this style has changed under the influence of contemporaries of the genre, who brought their own idea to the essence of improvisation. New directions began to appear - bebop, fusion, Latin American jazz, free jazz, funk, acid jazz, hard bop, smooth jazz, and so on.
15 Art Tatum
Art Tatum is a jazz pianist and virtuoso who was practically blind. He is known as one of the greatest pianists of all time who changed the role of the piano in the jazz ensemble. Tatum turned to the stride style to create his own unique style of playing, adding swing rhythms and fantastic improvisations to the rhythm. His attitude to jazz music fundamentally changed the importance of the piano in jazz as a musical instrument from its previous characteristics.
Tatum experimented with the harmonies of the melody, influencing the structure of the chord and expanding it. All this characterized the style of bebop, which, as you know, would become popular ten years later, when the first records in this genre appeared. Critics also noted his impeccable playing technique - Art Tatum was able to play the most difficult passages with such ease and speed that it seemed that his fingers barely touched the black and white keys.
14 Thelonious Monk
Some of the most complex and varied sounds can be found in the repertoire of the pianist and composer, one of the most important representatives of the era of bebop and its subsequent development. His very personality as an eccentric musician contributed to the popularization of jazz. Monk, always dressed in a suit, hat and sunglasses, openly expressed his free attitude to improvisational music. He did not accept strict rules and formed his own approach to creating compositions. Some of his most brilliant and famous works are Epistrophy, Blue Monk, Straight, No Chaser, I Mean You and Well, You Needn't.
Monk's playing style was based on an innovative approach to improvisation. His works are distinguished by percussive passages and sharp pauses. Quite often, right during his performances, he jumped up from the piano and danced while the other members of the band continued to play the melody. Thelonious Monk remains one of the most influential jazz musicians in the history of the genre.
13 Charles Mingus
A recognized double bass virtuoso, composer and band leader, he was one of the most extraordinary musicians on the jazz scene. He developed a new musical style, combining gospel, hard bop, free jazz and classical music. Contemporaries called Mingus "the heir to Duke Ellington" for his fantastic ability to write works for small jazz ensembles. In his compositions, all the members of the team demonstrated the skill of playing, each of which was also not only talented, but was characterized unique style games.
Mingus carefully selected the musicians who made up his band. The legendary double bass player was known for his temper, and once he even punched trombonist Jimmy Knepper in the face, knocking out his tooth. Mingus suffered from a depressive disorder, but was not ready to put up with the fact that this somehow affected his creative activity. Despite this affliction, Charles Mingus is one of the most influential figures in jazz history.
12 Art Blakey
Art Blakey was a famous American drummer and bandleader who made a splash in the style and technique of playing the drum kit. He combined swing, blues, funk and hard bop - a style that is heard today in every modern jazz composition. Together with Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, he invented a new way to play bebop on drums. For over 30 years, his band, The Jazz Messengers, has given jazz to many jazz artists: Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Clifford Brown, Curtis Fuller, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, and more.
The Jazz Messengers didn't just create phenomenal music - they were a kind of "musical testing ground" for young talented musicians, like the Miles Davis band. Art Blakey's style changed the very sound of jazz, becoming a new musical milestone.
11 Dizzy Gillespie (Dizzy Gillespie)
Jazz trumpeter, singer, songwriter and bandleader became a prominent figure in the days of bebop and modern jazz. His trumpet style influenced Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro. After his time in Cuba, upon his return to the US, Gillespie was one of those musicians who actively promoted Afro-Cuban jazz. In addition to his inimitable performance on the characteristically curved trumpet, Gillespie was recognizable by his horn-rimmed glasses and impossibly large cheeks as he played.
The great jazz improviser Dizzy Gillespie, as well as Art Tatum, innovated in harmony. The compositions of Salt Peanuts and Goovin' High were rhythmically completely different from previous works. Faithful to bebop throughout his career, Gillespie is remembered as one of the most influential jazz trumpeters.
10 Max Roach
The top 15 most influential jazz musicians in the history of the genre include Max Roach, a drummer known as one of the pioneers of bebop. He, like few others, has influenced the modern style of playing the drum set. Roach was a civil rights activist and collaborated with Oscar Brown Jr. and Coleman Hawkins on the album We Insist! - Freedom Now ("We insist! - Freedom now"), dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Max Roach - Representative impeccable style game, able to perform a long solo throughout the concert. Absolutely any audience was delighted with his unsurpassed skill.
9 Billie Holiday
Lady Day is the favorite of millions. Billie Holiday wrote only a few songs, but when she sang, she turned her voice from the first notes. Her performance is deep, personal and even intimate. Her style and intonation are inspired by the sound of musical instruments she has heard. Like almost all the musicians described above, she became the creator of a new, but already vocal style, based on long musical phrases and the tempo of singing them.
The famous Strange Fruit is the best not only in the career of Billie Holiday, but in the entire history of jazz because of the soulful performance of the singer. She was posthumously awarded prestigious awards and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
8 John Coltrane
The name of John Coltrane is associated with virtuoso playing technique, excellent talent for composing music and a passion for learning new facets of the genre. On the threshold of the origins of hard bop, the saxophonist achieved tremendous success and became one of the most influential musicians in the history of the genre. Coltrane's music had a sharp sound, and he played with high intensity and dedication. He was able to both play alone and improvise in an ensemble, creating solo parts of unthinkable duration. Playing the tenor and soprano saxophone, Coltrane was also able to create melodic smooth jazz compositions.
John Coltrane is the author of a kind of "bebop reboot", incorporating modal harmonies into it. Remaining the main active figure in the avant-garde, he was a very prolific composer and did not stop releasing discs, recording about 50 albums as a band leader throughout his career.
7 Count Basie
The revolutionary pianist, organist, composer and bandleader Count Basie led one of the most successful bands in jazz history. Over the course of 50 years, the Count Basie Orchestra, including incredibly popular musicians such as Sweets Edison, Buck Clayton and Joe Williams, has earned a reputation as one of America's most in-demand big bands. Nine-time Grammy Award winner Count Basie has instilled a love of orchestral sound into generations of listeners.
Basie wrote many songs that have become jazz standards, such as April in Paris and One O'Clock Jump. Colleagues spoke of him as a tactful, modest and enthusiastic person. Had it not been for the Count Basie Orchestra in jazz history, the big band era would have sounded different and certainly not as influential as it became with this outstanding bandleader.
6 Coleman Hawkins
The tenor saxophone is the symbol of bebop and all jazz music in general. And for that we can be grateful to be Coleman Hawkins. The innovations that Hawkins brought were vital to the development of bebop in the mid-forties. His contribution to the popularity of this instrument may have determined the future careers of John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon.
The composition Body and Soul (1939) became the benchmark for playing the tenor saxophone for many saxophonists. Other instrumentalists were also influenced by Hawkins - pianist Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Miles Davis, drummer Max Roach. His ability for extraordinary improvisations led to the discovery of new jazz sides of the genre that were not touched by his contemporaries. This partly explains why the tenor saxophone has become an integral part of the modern jazz ensemble.
5 Benny Goodman
The top five 15 most influential jazz musicians in the history of the genre opens. The famous King of Swing led almost the most popular orchestra of the early 20th century. His concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 is recognized as one of the most important live concerts in the history of American music. This show demonstrates the advent of the jazz era, the recognition of this genre as an independent art form.
Despite the fact that Benny Goodman was the lead singer of a major swing orchestra, he also participated in the development of bebop. His orchestra became one of the first, which united musicians of different races in its composition. Goodman was a vocal opponent of the Jim Crow Act. He even turned down a tour of the southern states in support of racial equality. Benny Goodman was an active figure and reformer not only in jazz, but also in popular music.
4 Miles Davis
One of the central jazz figures of the 20th century, Miles Davis, stood at the origins of many musical events and watched them develop. He is credited with pioneering the genres of bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, free jazz, fusion, funk and techno music. IN constant search new style of music he has always been successful and has been surrounded by brilliant musicians including John Coltrane, Cannoball Adderley, Keith Jarrett, JJ Johnson, Wayne Shorter and Chica Corea. During his lifetime, Davis was awarded 8 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Miles Davis was one of the most active and influential jazz musicians of the last century.
3 Charlie Parker
When you think about jazz, you remember the name. Also known as Bird Parker, he was a jazz alto saxophone pioneer, bebop musician and composer. His quick game, clear sound and the talent of an improviser had a significant impact on the musicians of that time and our contemporaries. As a composer, he changed the standards of jazz music writing. Charlie Parker was the musician who cultivated the idea that jazzmen are artists and intellectuals, not just showmen. Many artists have tried to copy Parker's style. His famous playing techniques can also be traced in the manner of many current novice musicians, who take as a basis the composition Bird, consonant with the nickname of the alto-sakosophist.
2 Duke Ellington
He was a grandiose pianist, composer and one of the most outstanding orchestra leaders. Although he is known as a jazz pioneer, he excelled in other genres as well, including gospel, blues, classical and popular music. It is Ellington who is credited with establishing jazz as a distinct art form. With countless awards and prizes, the first great jazz composer never stopped improving. He was the inspiration for next generations musicians including Sonny Stitt, Oscar Peterson, Earl Hines, Joe Pass. Duke Ellington remains a recognized jazz piano genius - instrumentalist and composer.
1 Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong
Arguably the most influential jazz musician in the history of the genre, aka Satchmo is a trumpeter and singer from New Orleans. He is known as the creator of jazz, who played a key role in its development. The amazing abilities of this performer made it possible to build a trumpet into a solo jazz instrument. He is the first musician to sing and popularize the scat style. It was impossible not to recognize his low "thundering" timbre of voice.
Armstrong's commitment to his own ideals influenced the work of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Louis Armstrong influenced not only jazz, but the entire musical culture, giving the world new genre, a unique manner of singing and style of playing the trumpet.
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They were the first to play jazz
Jazz musical world was presented by the meeting of two cultures - European and African. On an international wave in the early 20s of the twentieth century, the musical direction burst into the Land of the Soviets. We recall the performers who were the first to play jazz in the USSR.
Valentin Parnakh with his son Alexander. Photo: jazz.ru
Valentin Parnakh. Photo: mkrf.ru
"The first in the RSFSR eccentric orchestra of jazz bands of Valentin Parnakh" debuted on stage in October 1922. It was not just a premiere, but the premiere of a new musical direction. Revolutionary for the music of that time, the group was assembled by a poet, musician and choreographer, who lived in Europe for six years. Parnach heard jazz in a Parisian cafe in 1921 and was shocked by this innovative musical direction. He returned to the Soviet Union with a set of jazz band instruments. We only rehearsed for a month.
On the day of the premiere, on the stage of the Central College of Theater Arts - the current GITIS - gathered future writer and screenwriter Yevgeny Gabrilovich, actor and artist Alexander Kostomolotsky, Mieczysław Kaprovych and Sergei Tizenhaizen. Gabrilovich was sitting at the piano: he played well by ear. Kostomolotsky played drums, Kaprovych played saxophone, Tizengeizen played double bass and foot drum. All the same, double bassists beat the rhythm with their feet - the musicians decided.
At the first concerts, Valentin Parnakh told the audience about the musical direction and that jazz is a combination of the traditions of different continents and cultures into one "international fusion". The practical part of the lecture was enthusiastically received. Including Vsevolod Meyerhold, who was not slow to offer Parnakh to assemble a jazz band for his performance. Popular foxtrots and shimmys were featured in The Magnanimous Cuckold and D.E. Energetic music came in handy even at the May Day demonstration in 1923. “For the first time, a jazz band participated in state celebrations, which has not happened in the West until now!” trumpeted the Soviet press.
Alexander Tsfasman: jazz as a profession
Alexander Tsfasman. Photo: orangesong.ru
Alexander Tsfasman. Photo: muzperekrestok.ru
The works of Franz Liszt, Heinrich Neuhaus and Dmitri Shostakovich coexisted harmoniously with jazz melodies in the work of Alexander Tsfasman. While still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, which the musician later graduated with a gold medal, he created the first professional jazz group in Moscow - AMA Jazz. The first performance of the orchestra took place in 1927 at the Artistic Club. The team immediately received an invitation from one of the most fashionable venues at that time - the Hermitage Garden. In the same year, jazz first appeared on the Soviet radio. And it was performed by musicians Tsfasman.
“The tired sun tenderly said goodbye to the sea” sounded in 1937 from a record recorded by the ensemble of Alexander Tsfasman already under the name “Moscow Guys”.
For the first time in the Union, the well-known tango of the Polish composer Jerzy Petersbursky "Last Sunday" to the words of the poet Joseph Alvek was heard in a jazz arrangement. The soloist of the Tsfasman Jazz Ensemble Pavel Mikhailov was the first to sing about the gentle farewell of the sun and the sea. With the light hand of the musicians, another record from the same disc, about an unsuccessful date, became a hit for all time. “So tomorrow, in the same place, at the same hour”, - the whole country sang after the jazz ensemble.
“Those who have ever listened to the play of A. Tsfasman will forever keep in their memory the art of this virtuoso pianist. His dazzling pianism, combining expression and grace, acted magically on the listener.
Alexander Medvedev, musicologist
Although Alexander Tsfasman was engaged in a jazz ensemble, he did not leave a solo program, he acted as a pianist and composer. Together with Dmitry Shostakovich, Tsfasman worked on the music for the epic film "Meeting on the Elbe", and then, at the request of the composer, performed his music for the film "Unforgettable 1919". He also became the author of jazz music, which sounded in the famous play "Under the rustle of your eyelashes" by the puppet theater of Sergei Obraztsov.
Leopold Teplitsky. Jazz Classics
Leopold Teplitsky. Photo: history.kantele.ru
Leopold Teplitsky conducted symphony orchestras at silent film screenings at the Hermitage and Lux cinemas in St. Petersburg while still studying at the conservatory. In 1926, the People's Commissariat sent a young musician to Philadelphia to perform at International exhibition. In America, Teplitsky heard symphonic jazz - the music of this direction was performed by Paul Whiteman's orchestra.
When Leopold Teplitsky returned to the USSR, he organized the "First Concert Jazz Band" from professional musicians. Classics sounded in jazz arrangement - music by Giuseppe Verdi, Charles Gounod. He played a jazz band and works by contemporary American authors - George Gershwin, Irving Berlin. So Leopold Teplitsky found himself at the forefront of professional Leningrad jazz in the 1930s. Leonid Utyosov called him "the first of the domestic musicians who showed a jazz game."
The first performance of jazzmen took place in 1927. The concert was preceded by a lecture "Jazz Band and Music of the Future" by musicologist and composer Iosif Schillinger. The audience was especially interested in the music, unusual for those years, and the soloist - pop and jazz singer from Mexico Coretti Arle-Titz performed with the musicians. The team's success did not last long: in 1930, Leopold Teplitsky was arrested and convicted under the article "espionage". He was released two years later, but Teplitsky did not stay in Leningrad - he moved to Petrozavodsk.
Since 1933, the musician worked as the chief conductor of the Karelian symphony orchestra, but did not leave jazz - he played with an academic orchestra and a jazz program. Teplitsky performed with his new team in Leningrad as part of the Decade of Karelian Art. In 1936, with the participation of the musician, a new group, Kantele, appeared, for which Teplitsky wrote the Karelian Prelude. The ensemble became the winner of the First All-Union Radio Festival folk art in 1936. Leopold Teplitsky remained to live in Petrozavodsk. The festival of jazz music "Stars and Us" is dedicated to the memory of the famous jazzman.
Leonid Utesov. "Song Jazz"
Leonid Utesov. Photo: music-fantasy.ru
Leonid Utesov. Photo: mp3stunes.com
A loud premiere at the turn of the 1930s was Leonid Utesov's Tea Jazz. The fashionable musical direction, with the light hand of the famous pop artist, who left the commercial school for the sake of music, has acquired the scale of a theatrical performance. Utyosov became interested in jazz during a tour to Paris, where the Ted Lewis Orchestra impressed the Soviet musician with its "theatricalization" in the best traditions of the music hall.
These impressions were embodied in the creation of Tea Jazz. Utyosov turned to the virtuoso trumpeter, academic musician Yakov Skomorovsky, who also seemed interested in the idea of a jazz orchestra. Gathering musicians from the Leningrad theaters, "Tea Jazz" in 1929 performed on the stage of the Leningrad Maly Opera House. This was the first composition of the team, which did not work for long and soon moved to the Leningrad Radio in the "Concert Jazz Orchestra".
Utyosov scored new composition"Tea Jazz" - the musicians staged entire performances. One of them - "Music Store" - later formed the basis of the famous film, the first Soviet musical comedy. The picture of Grigory Alexandrov "Merry Fellows" with Lyubov Orlova in the title role was released on screens in 1934. She became popular not only at home, but also abroad. inspired jazz music in 1933 when I heard Duke Ellington's "Dear Old South" tune. Impressed, Lundstrem painted the arrangement, gathered the team, and sat down at the piano himself. Two years later, the musician conquered Shanghai, where he lived at that moment. So the fate was determined: abroad, Lundstrem studied at the same time at the Polytechnic Institute and the Music College. His orchestra played jazz classics and the music of Soviet composers in jazz arrangement. The press called Lundstrem "the king of jazz in the Far East."
In 1947, the musicians decided to move to the Soviet Union - in full force, with their families. Everyone settled in Kazan, where they studied at the Conservatory. However, a year later, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU was issued, condemning "formalism in music." The team returned to their homeland to become a state jazz group Tatar ASSR, but the musicians were distributed in Opera theatre and cinema orchestras. Together they performed only at rare one-time concerts.
"Deep penetration into the nature of jazz performance, into its classical traditions, on the one hand, and the desire to contribute to this genre, using national folklore, by creating and performing original jazz works and arrangements, on the other - this is the creed of the orchestra."
Oleg Lundstrem
Only the thaw brought jazz back to the stage. In the year of its 60th anniversary, Oleg Lundstrem's orchestra entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest continuously existing jazz orchestra. The musician also had a chance to meet with the author of that same “Dear Old South” when Duke Ellington came to Moscow in the 1970s. Oleg Lundstrem kept the record all his life, which gave him a love of jazz.
