Ufa 2005, "Bashvest", Yevgeniya Syutkina
For two days Ufa played host to the legendary maestros of Russian jazz, laureates of international contests Muscovites Vyacheslav Gorski and Sergei Manukyan, and "The Quadro".
They were brought to Ufa by Oleg Kireyev, the musician of no smaller calibers who had been born in Ufa but was successful in capturing Moscow. This year, he is organizing the "All Stars" musical series that includes six recital evenings with the participation of renowned jazzmen from Russia and Europe, as well budding performers.
It is not for the first time that the star trio - Gorski-Manukyan-Kireyev Ц comes to perform in Ufa. The music lovers still remember Vyacheslav Gorski's concerts in the early 1980s. The great improviser Manukyan is a long-time favourite of the Ufa audience, and Kireyev is a local celebrity and everyone must have heard or seen him. Ufa welcomed the jazzmen from Moscow as if they were natives to this place. On October 12, jazz aficionados assembled at the "Ufa Lights" Entertainment Complex for a concert titled "Autumn Funk"
The concert was preceded by a press conference with the jazz mega-stars. Oleg Kireyev who acted as a moderator soon won over the hearts of the audience. Oleg briefed the media about his famous friends from Moscow, introduced the future concert calling it a "mini-festival". The fact is that in addition to maestros from Moscow participating in the concert were the musicians from Ufa Ц Oleg Yanurov's jazz band. Oleg Kireyev praised his young colleagues from Ufa and appreciated the hall that was ideal for performing music of various genres.
The project presented by the three Muscovites is "Funky-monkey" so named after one of Vyacheslav Gorski's tracks composed in 2001. The piece has been well remembered since then and is now an embodiment of improvisation which the musicians demonstrated on the state.
"We have achieved ultimate mutual understanding, a virtual connection of sort", Gorski said.
"Our recital is like a musical rite. We enjoy interacting with one another and all together. Even if we play my compositions, the outstanding and brilliant musicians Sergei Manukyan and Oleg Kireyev have their own ideas to offer, their own visions. In other words, according to one of the great musicians, the main thing in the work of jazz musicians is to rehearse together less. Ever performer should generate more new ideas, listen to more music, communicate with more individuals, and then come and materialize all the experiences accumulated on the stage. We are not restricted by any fixed scores, 75 percent of what you hear is improvisation".
When they asked Sergei Manukyan if he regarded his unusual voice as a musical instrument he readily answered in the affirmative.
"Talking in general, the human voice is the first musical instrument ever. Only the voice can strike a cord. As well as rhythms because they coincide with the rhythms of the whole human body. Any song will move a listener even if it has no words but has rhythm and the voice coming straight from the heart and soul".
Let me share some personal experience. Act one of the concert was played by the Ufa musicians. I caught myself thinking about the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen and from the tables occupied by the audience. The exquisite aroma assisted to music. The cigarette smoke, however, was disturbing and in general negatively affected jazz. The smell of champagne with a slight hint of chocolate was only faint and did not affect the music much.
And then, after a short intermission, the long-awaited gig started to unwind. Vyacheslav Gorski, Sergei Manukyan and Oleg Kireyev appeared on the stage. And Ц miraculously! Ц all foreign smells immediately evaporated as soon as the first jazz cords sounded. To be exact, they did not actually disappear but, unaccountably, were no longer felt. Only music could be heard and seen: the catchy sounds of Gorski's keyboards, the unusual, fascinating vocal lyric-less improvisations by Manukyan, Kireyev's saxophone interlaced with his easy talk. The hall joined in trying to sing in unison with Manukyan and smiles were everywhere. It is difficult to express with words what was developing on stage, but this was exactly what the audience had expected Ц genuine big-timer jazz.
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