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Pianist Eldar Djangirov was born January 28th, 1987 in Kyrgyzstan, formerly part of the Soviet Union. His father was an amateur musician and an avid jazz fan and his mother, a music teacher at a local university. |
He began studying classical music with his mother by age 5 and eventually picked up on his father’s love of jazz, learning licks, bar by bar, from Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans records.
Siberia may be an unexpected setting for a jazz festival, but it was in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, that jazz enthusiast Charlie McWhorter heard the nine-year old phenom for the first time. McWhorter made a tape of Eldar and shepherded it and a scholarship request through to Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts. Eldar ended up attending the summer camp for three years running, playing in the High School Jazz Big Band, at the age of 12.
The Djangirov family eventually moved to the United States so that Eldar could pursue his jazz education. They first settled in Kansas City, Mo., largely because of the city's rich jazz heritage. In 1999, Eldar made his first appearance on Piano Jazz and impressed Marian McPartland with his amazing chops and confident yet polite personality.
Djangirov released his first album, Eldar, in 2001, followed by Handprints in 2003. Now 19, Eldar has a new album, also titled Eldar, released on Sony Classics. The Djangirovs have since relocated to San Diego and when he's not playing festivals and club dates, Eldar attends school at the University of Southern California.
Set List for Eldar Djangirov on Piano Jazz:Ask Me Now (Monk)
Nature Boy (Ahbez)
Billie's Bounce (Parker)
Sentimental Mood (Ellington)
Armando's Rhumba (Corea)
Portrait of Eldar (McPartland)
Sonny Moon for Two (Rollins)
Eldar on 'Weekend Edition Sunday'
Eldar's Web Site
Siberia may be an unexpected setting for a jazz festival, but it was in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, that jazz enthusiast Charlie McWhorter heard the nine-year old phenom for the first time. McWhorter made a tape of Eldar and shepherded it and a scholarship request through to Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts. Eldar ended up attending the summer camp for three years running, playing in the High School Jazz Big Band, at the age of 12.
The Djangirov family eventually moved to the United States so that Eldar could pursue his jazz education. They first settled in Kansas City, Mo., largely because of the city's rich jazz heritage. In 1999, Eldar made his first appearance on Piano Jazz and impressed Marian McPartland with his amazing chops and confident yet polite personality.
Djangirov released his first album, Eldar, in 2001, followed by Handprints in 2003. Now 19, Eldar has a new album, also titled Eldar, released on Sony Classics. The Djangirovs have since relocated to San Diego and when he's not playing festivals and club dates, Eldar attends school at the University of Southern California.
Set List for Eldar Djangirov on Piano Jazz:
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