Music > Jazz
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Kuryokhin Sergey - Ways of Freedom (CD)
Loot Price: R281
Discovery Miles 2 810
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Kuryokhin Sergey - Ways of Freedom (CD)
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Loot Price R281
Discovery Miles 2 810
Supplier out of stock. If you add this item to your wish list we will let you know when it becomes available.
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The Russian pianist Kuryokhin -- while not particularly influential
in America -- was nevertheless one of the most astoundingly gifted
and original players to have ever played jazz, in any country. Read
elsewhere about his life story (he died a tragically premature
death in 1996 at a young age); our concern here is a review of
this, a reissue of his remarkable first album. A relic from 1981,
when Russia was still the Soviet Union and playing free jazz in
that country was almost literally a crime, this solo recording was
paradoxically first released by Melodia, the state's official
record label. The record documents an amazing talent, who, had he
been born in America, would probably have been widely considered
one of the greatest free jazz pianists ever (he is anyway,
regardless of perception). Kuryokhin had an almost supernatural
technique, his lines are played as quickly and are as sharply
articulated as those of any pianist this side of Art Tatum.
Reminiscent of Cecil Taylor (as ultimately it seems all free jazz
pianists must be, to an extent) and perhaps Glenn Gould (in terms
of touch), Kuryokhin nevertheless sounds like no one but himself.
Occasionally he plays so fast with such clarity, one is tempted to
believe that the tape's been sped up. He's an obsessive pianist,
worrying over and embellishing small motives until they've given
all there is to give. He has a marvelously percussive attack and a
bracing sense of rhythm; the piano is a set of 81 tuned drums in
his hands, played with great subtlety and depth of feeling.
Kuryokhin extends conventional technique as well -- he's not afraid
to go inside and pluck and strum the instrument's innards, or tap
and bang, drum-like, on its various surfaces. This album is rather
strangely recorded -- the piano sounds a bit like a toy, as if the
mics were positioned a bit off-axis. Kuryokhin renders the odd
sound irrelevant. The album isn't perfect; the artist's formal
sense was not very sophisticated, at least at this early stage of
his development. His idea of form was mainly to explore one idea
until its possibilities were exhausted, then move on to the next.
Nevertheless, his profound imagination and skills as a pianist win
the day. This is an incredible document and shouldn't be missed by
any serious student of avant-garde piano. ~ Chris Kelsey
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