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NEW EAST QUARTET
Anatoly Vapirov - saxophone (Bulgaria)
Vladimir Volkov - double bass (Russia)
Antoni Donchev - piano (Bulgaria)
Vladimir Tarasov - percussion, drums (Lithunia)
NEW EAST JAZZ QUARTET is a super formation representing an extraordinary project with highly virtuous musicians from different East European countries. Organized and presented by Barbican in London this project combines some of the most creative musicians in East-European jazz. A kind of Superformation which caused a very big sensation.
ANATOLY VAPIROV especially through his work in the jazz Avantgarde of the former Soviet Union Anatoly Vapirov is known to friends of improvising music. He was the leading saxophonist and one of the most important composers of Leningrad's contemporary jazz scene.
Due to family reasons - his father and his wife are Bulgarian- in 1985 he moved to Varna in Bulgaria. Since 1992 he has been leading the Varna jazz Festival, which presented a sophisticated program and became an important axis for encounter between jazz musicians from East and West Europe . "In the beginning I was inviting musicians, because I wanted to play with them myself," says Anatoly. "Meanwhile some kind of musical workshop has developed; a laboratory, where musicians from East and West can meet."
In 1974 - still in Soviet times - with the "Bulgarian Rondo" for saxophone and orchestra Vapirov already referred to his Bulgarian roots. As early as the mid-seventies and in opposition to many free-jazz-hardliners, Vapirov included the entire range of classical music, chamber-music, jazz and folklore within his expressive style.
He composed a Concerto for a jazz quartett, mezzosoprano and choir ("Slav Mystery," 1977) as well as a piece for bass, piano, saxophone and string quartett, that reflects the music of Alban Berg ("Lines of Destiny," 1980). His borderline frankness would expose itself likewise in projects with symphony orchestras and Sibirian folklore ensembles.
In the "Fairy Tale Trio" Anatoly plays the soprano saxophone exclusively. The musician, who is also known as a brilliant clarinettist and tenor saxophone player, doesn't blow his trio collegues off the stage. The sound of the soprano saxophone merges most sufficiently with Spassov's kaval.
"I have grown older and maybe a little wiser," he explains. "Good music doesn't come out of unrestricted strenghth and expressivity only, but also out of deep probing."
His work and make recordings with diferent musicians: Tavitian (Romania); Muthspiel (Austria); Dasek (Czech Rep); Tomlinson, Guy, Wachsman, Rutherford and Surman (England); Krog (Norge); Kowald, Zerbe, Moscher, Dix and Kugel (Germany); Vysniauskas and Labutis (Lithunia); Gebbia, Dato, Fazio and Minarfa (Italy); Leviev, Donchev, Yotsov, Yankoulov and Spassov (Bulgaria); Kuznetzov and Izmailov (Ukraine); Kyriochin, Tarasov, Shilkoper, Volkov and Ponomareva (Russia); Sclavis (France); Aydogdu and Ibrahimova (Turkey); Sainkho (Tuva); Stanko (Poland); Waldron (USA) etc.
VLADIMIR VOLKOV, one of the leading free-jazz-musicians of Europe, is a music phenomenon passing different genres and styles. The musicians combine avantgarde, improvised music with traditional folklore roots in a very creative way. They played on many international stages and won several international awards. Vladimir Volkov also played in "Collegium Europae", run by Wieland Kuyken, "The Moscow Composers Orchestra" and in the Cross Culture Project "Vereshki da Koreshki" (VeDaKi) with musicians from Senegal and Tuva. He also worked with Anatoly Vapirov, Petras Vysniauskas, Tomasz Stanko, Ernst Reijseger, Kenny Wheeler, Bobo Stenson, Ned Rothenberg, Klaus Kugel, Michael Moore and Kaigal-ool Khovalyg (Huun Huur Tu). In 1998 he played in the project Black Sea with Izmailov, Tavitian, Vapirov and Yankoulov which was especially organized for the Leipzig Jazz Festival. Since then he has played with Arkady Shilkloper and Sergey Starostin of Moscow Art Trio and with Sainkho Namchylak and Vladimir Tarasov. In 1999 he has toured with his band "Vereshki da Koreshki" and the Norwegian singer Mari Boine thoughout Europe.
ANTONI DONCHEV is a pianist and composer whose name has been connected with all the major prestigious Bulgarian jazz awards over the last fifteen years.
He really began his career when he founded the "Acoustic Version" jazz formation. Its first performance on a European music stage was awarded the Grand Prix at the Hoeilaart Jazz Contest in Belgium in 1985.
A year later, "Acoustic Version" won another award: the jury headed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and Pavel Brodowski gave the Grand Prix of the International Jazz Federation to Antony Donchev and Christov Yotsov, and the "Europe's Young Jazz Artist of 1986" title.
The following years, "Acoustic Version" performed at numerous world famous jazz festivals like Ost-West, Nurnberg - Jazz Jamboree, Warsow - Jazz Yatra, Bombay and Delhi - Prague Jazz Festival - Jazz Fair in Zagreb, Moscow, Tbilissi, Roermond, Thessaloniki, Istanbul...
Alongside with his activities within "Acoustic Version", Antoni Donchev realizes a number of other projects with musicians from all over Europe; performs as a visiting pianist home and abroad; promotes piano concertos, dedicated to him, performed and recorded together with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra; composes music for films and theatre.
Since a few years, he has been working writing music for stage director Stefan Moskov. Moskov's staging of 'Swang Songs' in Schauspielhaus in Dusseldorf, 'Macbu' in Bremer Theatre, 'Home No.13' and 'Blue in blue' in Thalia Theatre in Hamburg were very well received by the German critics.
Antony Donchev is a musician, who can easily and skillfully handle the brood variety of forms in performing and composing at the end of the 20th century. He has no difficulty whatever combining the versality of jazz stylistics with floklore and classical music in all their aspects. He participates to the recording of the album "Baroque & Jazz" [PolySound inc.], with the reknown flutist, Simeon Shterev: an album where sonates [from Michel Blavet] meet jazz standards.
2000 he release an album with some of his compositions for the theater, that will be called "Home No.13".
2003 New Projects with Kenny Wheeler and Tomasz Stanko.
2004 New Proejct with Glen Moore, Klaus Kugel and Eric Vloeimans.
He work aslo with: Lars Danielsson, Mihaly Dresch, Kornel Horvath, Zoltan Lantos, George Garzone, Rainer Winterschladen, Floros Floridis, Ivo Papasov, Andrew Scofield, Tomi Smith etc.
VLADIMIR TARASOV
Unabhängig von der Tradition
des europäischen Free Jazz hat in der ehemaligen Sowjetunion Vladimir
Tarasov eine eigenständige freie Spielweise entwickelt. Er spielte
in Sinfonieorchestern und war bis zur Auflösung 1987 Mitglied des
Ganelin-Trios. Sein Spiel ist besonders perkussiv. Tarasov verbindet die
Pulstechniken des Freien Jazz mit traditionell swingenden Figuren, mit
Marsch-, Zirkus- und litauischer Volksmusik, all diese Elemente auf vielfältige
Weise brechend und ironisierend.
Jazzbuch / Günther Huesmann
Virgil Mihain, “Russion jazz new identity”
Quartet books, London
“He doesn’t want to interfere with the process, the flow of ispiration, coming from within himself.
There is a stream of subconsciousness, or consciousness, that he doesn’t want to disturb”.
Howard Mandel, “Down beat”, USA
“Enriching the part of the main instrument he brought forth devilish rhythms from any thing which happened to come across his hands - from bells, cocktail shakers, gongs and even tin box”.
Francis Davis, “Atlantic Journal”, USA
“Vladimir Tarasov a drummer of rare subtlety and cunning, takes sensual delight in the very touch of his extensive array of instruments, from finger chimes to cymbals. He is also a master of decorative brushwork”.
Nat Hentoff, “The Wall street journal”, USA
“It is a credit to Tarasov’s sensitivity and creativity that this obvious play is utilized with such subtlety”.
Milo Fine, “Jazz forum”, Poland
“Tarasov was virtuosic with one drum stick on a small hand-held disc”.
Mary Campbell, “Associated press”, New York
“Along drum solo, which Tarasov littered with hushend, chopped - of sounds as if trying to restrain his exubererance”.
John Fordnam, “The guardian”, London
“Vladimir Tarasov - wove exhilarating patterns through the most demanding tempos”.
Geoff Chapman, “The Toronto star”, Toronto
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