BEL AIR, CA, November 14, 2009
MaiMai News -- Brilliant young Azerbaijani jazz pianist Isfar Sarabski, this year's winner of the famed piano competition at the 43rd Montreux International Jazz Festival, was presented to the U.S. for the first time with 2 performances in the last week of October, sponsored by the Azerbaijani Consulate in Los Angeles. His next stops are Switzerland and Belgium, and then back to school in Azerbaijan.
Barely 20, the young pianist won at Montreux for a piece of his own composition, "Novruz" ("New Year's Day"). Beyond mere talent, Isfar displays a musical and emotional depth which belies his youth. Sarabski's influences are Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, Bill Evans, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Oscar Peterson and especially Vagif Mustafazadeh, the mythical Azerbaijani jazz pioneer who fused jazz with the highly-evolved, emotion-based, improvisational yet traditional Azeri musical forms and modes called mugam, a complex, spiritual form of conscious art which developed and survived in the Caucasus for around 3,000 years.
Isfar's U.S. debut performance, a private event, was held at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill, Jazz, Etc. "The Best Supper Club in LA" known for perfect acoustics and world-class sound. Invited guests included top music industry and Los Angeles luminaries, diplomats, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, senior advisor Michael Yamaki, opera singer Demetra George and many others. Vibrato GM Hoss Zargaran directed the event skillfully, with the State Department's Secret Service men providing additional security for the numerous VIPs.
After a powerful, eloquent solo performance, Isfar was joined by jazz veteran bassist Pat Senatore and drummer Erik Klass for a trio set of jazz classics, including Isfar's outstanding reworking of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." Sarabski's first U.S. performance received a roaring, standing ovation.
The next day renowned music critic Don Heckman, among the music industry insiders in the audience, wrote of Isfar's debut at Vibrato: "Isfar Sarabski. Remember the name. No, it doesn't flow as freely across the lips as, say, Herbie Hancock or Keith Jarrett. But you're going to be hearing it, nonetheless."... Don Heckman, International Review of Music
Isfar's second performance, a public concert supported by the Consulate of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, was held at the 300-seat Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood, a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Isfar's Hollywood concert was presented as part of the ongoing, critically-acclaimed Angel City Jazz Festival. The audience included consuls-general and consulate members from several different countries, chiefs of protocol including the LA mayor's office, members of the Georgian, Azeri and Turkish communities, international and local musicians, artists, poets, and Los Angeles jazz lovers.
Sarabski again performed the first half of the concert solo, with several of his own rich, poetic compositions (some in the audience had tears flowing during his third number), and a formidable rendition of Michel Camilo's "Caribbean." Isfar was joined by musicians Greg Swiller on bass & bass guitar and Erik Klass on drums for the second half, which included Sarabski's original arrangement of Duke Ellington's "Caravan" that drew a standing ovation.
During both L.A. performances, Isfar's strong classical backbone, discernible in his harmonics, passion, complexity, lyricism and astonishing technique, was judiciously mingled with the soulful strains of ancient Azeri modes and melodies and brilliantly punctuated with deep drifts of rich, emotionally powerful improvisations... and with great, monstrous, timing which he can masterfully shift into complex Afro-Latin rhythms at will. Isfar Sarabski, whose great-grandfather was famous Azerbaijani opera singer Huseyngulu Sarabski, is also modest, humble, and genuine... rare for such a prodigiously talented young man on the world stage.
In addition to winning at Montreux, Isfar Sarabski, born November 2, 1989, has also performed at the Baku Caspian Jazz and Blues Festival several times, the "Silda Jazz" International Jazz Festival in Norway as well as the International Jazz Festival in Russia, all before reaching the ripe old age of 20. Isfar hopes to return in 2010 to perform in the U.S. again.
Appendix:
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the biggest and most prestigious jazz events in Europe. It is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva and attracts an audience of more than 200,000 people. This year about 1,000 musicians took part in the renowned competition, which lasted 2 weeks. Isfar Sarabski won the top audience award (Public Prize), and also won first place from the judges at Montreux (shared with Georgian Beka Gochiashvili) on July 18, 2009. http://www.montreuxjazz.com
Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill, Jazz, Etc. "The Best Supper Club in LA" has a different top-notch musical act every night. Legendary musician and producer Herb Alpert was especially concerned that the acoustics are beautiful, so Vibrato is a glorious space with world-class sound, awarded Best of L.A. for "Best Live Music in a Restaurant" (2009, Los Angeles Magazine). Herb Alpert's ear for musical quality is among the many talents that helped him win 8 Grammy awards, sell over 75 million records to date, and produce countless musical stars in the last five decades. http://www.vibratogrilljazz.com/buzz/isfar-sarabski.htm facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FBVibrato
The Republic of Azerbaijan is a country balanced between Western Asia and Eastern Europe, bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Iran to the south, Georgia to the northwest and Armenia to the west. Azerbaijan was the first successfully established democratic and secular parliamentary republic in the Muslim world. In 1918 Azerbaijan became the first Muslim nation to grant its citizens equal rights regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation, as well as grant women and men equal voting rights, ahead of the United States and the U.K. Azerbaijan re-established its independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union that dominated the whole region for 71 years. The capital city, Baku, a major port on the Caspian Sea, supplied half the world's oil by the turn of the 19th century. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries so far and holds membership in 38 international organizations including the United Nations and the Council of Europe. In 2006 Azerbaijan was elected to membership in the newly established Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly. Azerbaijan is an active member of NATO's "Partnership for Peace" program, is contributing to peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, and maintains good relations with the European Union. The deep-rooted tradition of music is one of the most characteristic cultural features of Azerbaijan. The first opera in the Muslim world -- an adaptation of the East's epic love story "Leyli and Mejnun" -- was written and performed in Azerbaijan in 1908. In 2003, UNESCO proclaimed Azerbaijan's "mugam" musical tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. http://www.unesco.org
Don Heckman also wrote, regarding Sarabski's private debut performance at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz Etc..., "...his playing ranged freely from hard swing to pensive lyricism, while incorporating some of the intriguing rhythms and melodic phrases of his native land into his music." "...Sarabski clearly had the skill to execute anything that occurred to his adventurous improvisational mind. Romping through bebop tunes, his mastery of the genre's classic vocabulary was thorough. Slower tunes were enhanced by fine-tuned harmonic originality that brought new shades of color to every line." "...a pianist with the ability, the imagination and the desire to add a potentially new and fascinating perspective to the 21st century jazz world." - Don Heckman, International Review of Music. http://irom.wordpress.com
