ELDAR A Jazz Performance and Demonstration
Meet jazz pianist and composer Eldar, whose playing was once described by the late Dr. Billy Taylor, the Kennedy Center’s then–Artistic Director for Jazz, as “showing brilliance, complexity, and discipline… he’s serious about his music; he’s thoughtful about what he does.” Jazz is a form that requires each artist’s individual style to clearly emerge, and Eldar is an example of an artist doing just that. At this performance/demonstration, the 24-yearold Eldar will offer his unique perspective on how to turn an old classic inside out and how he approaches his own compositions. You’ll also have an opportunity to learn the art of active listening and how to interpret music.
Eldar: What You Should Know • Eldar Djangirov (pronounced EL-dar jan-GEER-off) was born in 1987 in Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet Union.
• In 1996, a jazz enthusiast from New York City named Charles McWhorter heard Eldar play at a jazz festival in Russia. McWhorter arranged for the young musician to attend the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts summer camp in Michigan. • When he was 11, Eldar and his family left their native country and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, a place famous for its jazz history. • Eldar earned a Grammy® nomination in 2008 (one of music’s highest honors).
Listen Up! Check out more about the history of jazz at Jazz in Time http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/multimedia/series/ AEMicrosites/jazz-in-time Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by
Crackerfarm/Courtesy Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
• At age three, Eldar began playing piano. His mother, a university music teacher, started him on the basics of classical music. His father, an avid jazz fan, introduced him to jazz recordings at the age of five. It didn’t take long—Eldar became hooked on jazz.
Jazz is a truly American musical form—and many people consider it one of America’s best contributions to the world of music. Jazz first emerged about 100 years ago in the American south, most distinctly in New Orleans, Louisiana. This seaport city served as home to people of African, French, English, Caribbean, and other backgrounds. It also became a melting pot for music from many traditions. African American musicians fused elements of ragtime, blues, classical, and big brass band sounds to create a distinct new type of music—jazz.
After the first jazz recordings were made in 1917, jazz spread across the nation. It also evolved over decades, helped along by influential musicians. Among them, trumpeter Louis Armstrong (1920s) introduced improvised solos; Duke Ellington (1920s) popularized big band jazz; Charlie Parker (1940s) broke ground with a faster style called bebop; Miles Davis (1950s) influenced jazz first with his softer, complex “cool” style and then in the late 1960s with fusion jazz; and John Coltrane (1960s) helped pioneer using sounds derived from half-steps, called modal jazz. Since then, artists—including Eldar— have continued to explore and expand the musical genre.
What You Should Look and Listen for • You will hear a mixture of original jazz compositions, classical work, and “standards” from the American Songbook. These “standards” represent the body of musical works created for Broadway shows and musical theater between the 1920s and the 60s. • At times, Eldar performs at lightning speed; watch how fast his fingers move up and down on the keyboard. • In each composition, Eldar “explores” music, shaping melodies, reshaping them, and alternating rhythm, tempo, and dynamics.
The Language of Jazz Here are some jazz terms you should know… Improvisation Creating music or song spontaneously, a technique that requires great musical skill and creativity Tempo The speed of the music Rhythm Music made up of strong and soft beats played in a repeating pattern Syncopation Stressing a note in an unexpected place, between beats, or on a weak beat Dynamics The loudness or softness of the music Individual Personality When musicians create a unique personal sound while playing their instruments Crackerfarm/Courtesy Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
Crackerfarm/Courtesy Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
Jazz: An Evolving Art Form
Listen Up! Learn more about Jazz in D.C. at http://artsedge.kennedycenter.org/multimedia/ series/AudioStories/jazz-in-dc
David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President Dr. Billy Taylor Artistic Director for Jazz (1994-2010) Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education Additional support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided by The U.S. Department of Education, The President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts, and The Clark Charitable Foundation. Cuesheets are made possible by the U.S. Department of Education, AT&T, the Carter and Melissa Cafritz Charitable Trust, James V. Kimsey, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Newman’s Own Foundation, Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. Stolwijk, and the Verizon Foundation.
www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, a program of the Kennedy Center Education Department. ARTSEDGE is a part of Verizon Thinkfinity, a consortium of free educational Web sites for K-12 teaching and learning. The U.S. Department of Education supports approximately one-third of the budget for the Kennedy Center Education Department. The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. © 2011 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
When legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck heard Eldar play, Brubeck called him “a genius beyond most young people I’ve heard.”
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