Eleventh CD by Simon Nabatov for Leo Records marking his round date - 50th birthday. For this special date Simon gathers his favourite partners creating a truly stellar band (Nils Wogram on trombone, Mathias Schubert on tenor sax, Ernst Reijseger on cello, Tom Rainey on drums). At the basis of these relationships are mutual trust and playful mischief, subtle (and intended) sabotage and shy beauty to flow freely and interwine. Seven compositions, all penned by the pianist, often concentrate on one idea or procedure, thus turning each piece into a well-balanced short story, told in a blend of refined dignity, joyful energy and melancholic sweetness.

http://www.leorecords.com/?m=select&id=CD_LR_586

Stuck For Good

Around Brazil: Simon Nabatov’s solo-album on ACT pays tribute to beauty.

It would be tempting for someone like him to simply dazzle and amaze. Simon Nabatov is technically one of the piano sensations of the last two decades. An artist, whose skills seems to know no boundaries. The stylistic repertoire of the pianist, who lives in Germany and trained at the Moscow conservatory and New York’s Juilliard School, is comprehensive. From stride to free jazz, he seems to have everything that jazz piano’s history has to offer at his fingertips, while pulling baroque, classical and romantic music out of his sleeve with ease, as this recording once again reveals. But more than that Nabatov uses this recording to make an intimate musical statement, by celebrating his love for Brazilian music.

A music that is always vibrant and rhythmically infectious, but can simultaneously be deeply melancholic, subtle and tender. A music that is always coloured by saudade, the very Brazilian form of yearning, bittersweet desire, and sadness contained in joy. Nabatov captures facets of this feeling in his repertoire filtered through the perception of a cultural cosmopolitan. His saudade is poetic, broken and reflected back onto itself several times. He combines a popular bossa nova by Antonio Carlos Jobim with a baroque dance by Johann Sebastian Bach, while eruptive late 20th century free jazz never seems to be far away. Nabatov colours a piece with buzzing notes from the prepared piano, at other times he frames the original’s fragile melancholy with a repeated figure in the piano’s shrill upper register, reminiscent of a musical clock – the composition so treated being "Na Baixa do Sapateiro", by Ary Barroso, one of the most popular dance tunes of the mid 20th century in Brazil.

Subtle alteration on the one side is balanced by sheer enjoyment of the copious repertoire. Of course Nabatov has also selected pieces by two of the famous singer songwriters Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil (currently minister for culture in Brazil). Nabatov treats Gil’s "Eu vim da Bahia" as a sensitive, lyrical gem with a subtly shaded touch. "Nenê", a composition by Ernesto Nazareth stays true to the original’s mood. The ravishing close to this CD is "Você é linda", a tender classic by the great poet and ever elegant singer Caetano Veloso. This is a quiet pearl in Nabatov’s ocean of sound, and the whole album similarly bows its head to beauty. And this may be the biggest surprise of this album; a Russian giant’s sensitive tribute to Brazil.

https://www.actmusic.com/en/Artists/Simon-Nabatov/Piano-Works-V-Around-Brazil/Piano-Works-V-Around-Brazil-CD-Out-Of-Print/Produktinformation

Partita De Marco

Simon Nabatov and Tom Rainey have been playing together in different bands since 1990 - trios with Mark Helias or Drew Gress, quintet including Mark Feldman, Herb Robertson and Mark Helias, Matthias Schubert Quartet, NDR Big Band and Klaus König Band. In August 2005 they made a recording produced by the NDR Radio in Hamburg. It was a joyous reunion after a two-year break, and the very first time the two played in duo. The result is a set of free improvised pieces with concise dramaturgical inclination and a wide variety of modi operandi, all stemming from the long-term musical bond between them.

http://www.leorecords.com/?m=select&id=CD_LR_463

Nao Olhe Para Tras

Depois Que O Ile Passar


"Nabatov is quite simply one of the finest improvising pianists in Europe."
-Jazz UK 

"Preternaturally talented."
-The New York City Jazz Records

"A masterfully inventive pianist, Nabatov drills his fluid thought processes and clever inventions into the broad realm of modern-day jazz and improvisation. To say that his music is adventurous would be an understatement. His music, which mixes together written-out sections with free improvising, is eccentric and sometimes demented."
- All About Jazz

Simon Nabatov began playing at three and composed his first piece at six. In 1984 Keyboard Magazine named him Best Pianist. A winner of numerous piano competitions, and Juilliard graduate, he recorded more than 70 CDs and DVDs and gave concerts and workshops in over 60 countries. 

Simon Nabatov performed and recorded with many fine musicians such as Paul Motian, Tony Scott, Sonny Fortune, Kenny Wheeler, Alan Skidmore, Herb Robertson, Louis Sclavis, Charles McPhearson, Billy Hart, David Murray, Paul Horn, Ricki Ford, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Jim Snidero, Herb Geller, Dave Pike, Attila Zoller, Matthias Schubert, Barry Altschul, Vladimir Tarasov, John Betsch, Ed Schuller, Arto Tuncboyaci, Adam Nussbaum, Jay Clayton, Ron McClure, Mark Feldman, Drew Gress, Phil Minton, Michael Moore, Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, Wolter Wierbos, Hayden Chisholm, Gareth Lubbe and many others.

Solo: https://youtu.be/B8D51ylJ7es

Simon Nabatov - Han Bennink Duo:
http://www.nabatov.com/Duo_Bennink.htm

Simon Nabatov’s Trio Braz – Live in Bonn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyA38ywb5fI

Simon Nabatov - Phil Minton - Nils Wogram - Frank Gratkowski: http://www.nabatov.com/Quartet_NatureMorte.html

Discography: http://www.nabatov.com/discography.htm

NPR feature: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1184720

Interview in Russian: http://journal.jazz.ru/2014/09/13/simon-nabatov-interview/


Simon Nabatov

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