djRoME's Review: Eldar Djangirov's Album, "Eldar"

OK so in addition to liking death metal, I'm also into good jazz. While I typically prefer horn jazz like Arturo Sandoval or Maynard Ferguson (the edgier groups), I have recently stumbled upon a young Art Tatum in the making.

For those of you who don't know who Art Tatum is, he's one of the most highly regarded jazz pianists of our time. NPR should be able to help you out. To truely understand what makes this album so great, we've got to start by learning about Eldar Djangirov first:

Eldar Djangirov-now eighteen years old and an emigrant from Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet Union-might seem an unlikely candidate for greatness as a jazz pianist. But Eldar is in fact all of these things, which have now brought him to his debut recording for Sony Classical-ELDAR, featuring sax virtuoso Michael Brecker (to be released on Tuesday, March 22, 2005).
When he was nine years old, Eldar began to explore and pursue jazz seriously. One can hear in Eldar's music influences from the classic, the inspired drive of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson, the exuberance of Dave Brubeck, and the intensity and introspection of Bill Evans.

Eldar was featured on the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards and has taken top prizes at the 2001 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and the 2002 Peter Nero Piano Competition. The legendary Marian McPartland hosted Eldar as her guest (her youngest ever) on the acclaimed radio show "Piano Jazz" and later asked Eldar to perform during her concert series at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. After hearing Eldar play, jazz great Benny Carter said, "He's one of the most outstanding artists I've heard in a long, long time." An impressed Dr. Billy Taylor noted that "At age 16, Eldar Djangirov's playing shows brilliancy, complexity, and discipline." Hailing Eldar as a "remarkably advanced jazz artist," JAZZIZ magazine wrote, "The pianist's incredible hands already have him sounding like a young Art Tatum."

I stole that from his website. His newest album, entitled, "Eldar" is a great piano Jazz album with a combo on it as well. All songs were arranged by Eldar himself, and this kid is just getting started on his early 20's!

Eldar is regarded as a prodigy, and he certainly is. There is some great playing on this album, and it sounds 100% professional the entire way through. Eldar has amazing hands, and the speed with which he plays is phenominal. This CD would be impressive to everyone, regardless of whether you listen to jazz or not.

You can hear exerpts of his music on his website.

CONS:

Eldar at times shows his age, while being a prodigy he often loses sight of what music is all about, and sacrifices musicality for speed. Many also would have said that about Art Tatum himself, so I'll go ahead and overlook that tiny little fact.

FINAL TAKE:

If you like Art Tatum, and piano jazz in general, this first album is great. What virtuostic playing from the young Russian! I didn't know they got this funky out there!

9.2 out of 10, mostly because this kid is so young.