Jazz violinists. Jazz violin. The special complexity of the violin

I have been waiting for this meeting for half my life... Back in the 80s, when I taught at the famous jazz school "Moskvorechye", I remember how at concerts I listened to the magic that David Goloshchekin performed on the violin, playing "Stardust" (STARDUST)...

I remember very well how the audience froze, and then exploded into wild applause when the echo of the last note played by the Master’s bow died away.

And so we sit with him, opposite each other, I listen to the maestro’s emotional story about the path he has traveled in jazz. We are talking about the violin, and he, this brilliant jazz violinist, suddenly tells me that the violin... is not a jazz instrument!!!

This was a revelation from the Master, and was like a complaint to a colleague (I am a jazz cellist...). And how I understand these words! After all, in order to extract the first “jazz sound” from a bowed instrument, you must not only “saw wood with a bow” for 12 hours a day, but also... completely restructure your brain: renounce the academic stereotypes that are taught in music school, then in school, and then at the conservatory! Goloshchekin complained that “there are no violinists”! Indeed, you can count the number of famous jazz violinists around the world on one hand. This is Stefan Grappelli, Svend Asmussen, Joe Venuti, Staff Smith, Jean-Luc Ponty, Didier Lockwood... and, of course, David Goloshchekin! We see that their number is incomparable with the number of “star” American and European musicians who play other “jazz” instruments. I was amazed when I learned that David Semyonovich personally knew Didier Lockwood, whose playing has always been for me, as a cellist, an example of “trademark jazz.” And who doesn’t Goloshchekin know? Who didn't he play with? He played with Dizzy Gillespie himself - the legend of American jazz!

And he continued to “complain”: “Good classical violinists come to me in droves and claim that they play jazz, but they are all a pale shadow of the same Grappelli, only much worse! They don’t know harmony!..”

...I understand what he means, I agree, I remember my own “cello destiny”... When people ask me why jazz is not played on violins and cellos, I always answer: there are two reasons!

One of them is that these are technically the most complex instruments. For comparison, it only takes three years to “blow” the saxophone, and you can already play decently! This is not the case with the violin! To learn to play the violin professionally, you must first study at a music school, then at a college, then at a conservatory. In short - take it out and put 15 years on music education! And by this time you are already over 25!.. But that’s not the main thing. The paradox is that a person who has received a good “violin” education is absolutely helpless in jazz, and all his “instrumental power” is just an illusion that prevents him from mastering jazz! At the same time, few violinists understand that jazz is such an “abyss” that cannot be jumped over “right away”, and no classical education will help here, on the contrary: academic stereotypes get in the way terribly, you have to start everything “from scratch”, as in the first grade music school. And this is another 10-15 years of study, and old age is just around the corner! Therefore, few are able to take this thorny path with vague prospects. And the prospects are the most bleak. Imagine: you are a talented graduate of the conservatory, a winner of numerous competitions, with difficulty you took the place of a violinist at the first console of a prestigious symphony orchestra, which means that you have a decent salary, but... You dream of jazz... What awaits you? A career as a restaurant "ladgus" instead of prestigious international trips with an orchestra? After all, a jazz musician is free, like a bird, and his life is like a bird’s: he played here, he played there, no permanent job, no family (family requires a stable salary!). There is something to think about here; not everyone will dare to undertake such a “civil feat”! I wanted to tell David Semyonovich about one person who... made up his mind!

This is my student Konstantin Ilyitsky. An excellent professional violinist, very talented, with extensive experience in solo concert work, he crossed the “dangerous line” from classical to jazz, and took up jazz seriously when he was already over 30! From scratch! In three years, thanks to titanic work, he has thoroughly studied the jazz language, now plays with the best Moscow jazzmen, and why talk for a long time when you can see and hear: in the fall, a series of concerts of the ensemble “VIOLIN JAZZ BAND”, led by the violinist, will take place in Moscow and St. Petersburg Konstantin Ilyitsky. The program will be dedicated to modern jazz luminaries: Chick Corea, Jean Luc Ponty, etc., you will appreciate the level of his skill!

(Stuff Smith)one of the founders of jazz violin. He began playing the violin in 1930 when he was 20 years old. His playing was distinguished by a “playful, hooligan” manner. The trio: Jimmy Jones - piano, John Livy - bass and, of course, Stuff Smith himself on the violin, became famous throughout the jazz world, regularly performing at the famous Onyx Club. . Only three musicians without a drummer performed brilliantly, creating the rhythmic “pulsation” themselves. Their only recordings were made by Asch.

(Stephane Grappelli)born January 26, 1908 in Paris, died December 1, 1997 there.

One of the greatest jazz violinists, Stephanie Grappelli, has done much to establish the violin as a jazz instrument with her unprecedented creative longevity and consistently stunning playing throughout her career.

Initially self-taught both as a violinist and as a pianist, then, in 1924-28. he studied at the Paris Conservatory. Grappelli played in cinemas and dance bands before meeting guitarist Django Reinhart (Django Reinhardt ) in 1933. Supervisor "Hot Club"(Hot Club) Pierre Nourry approached them with the idea of ​​a string orchestra. Thus was born The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, composed of a violin, three acoustic guitars and a bass, which quickly gained international fame thanks to a superb series of Ultraphone, Decca and HMV recordings.

The outbreak of war in 1939 led to the disintegration of the quintet. Grappelli remained in London, where they were playing at the time, while Reinhart returned to France. The violinist soon teamed up with a young pianist George Shearingin the new band in which he worked throughout the war.

In 1946, Grappelli and Reinhart made the first of several attempts to team up, although they never worked together continuously again, despite numerous recordings. Grappelli performed in the 50s and 60s in many clubs throughout Europe, but remained little known in the United States until he began to travel regularly around the world in the early 70s. Active almost to the very end, Grappelli remained at his best even when he was 89.

Jean-Luc Ponty born in the French city of Avranches on September 29, 1942, into a musical family. From the age of five he began to be taught to play the violin, and later - the piano. From a young age, Ponti began to fanatically practice the violin for many hours a day and achieved that he was accepted into the Paris Conservatory. At the age of seventeen, he received First Prize at one of the violin competitions, but did not become a solo musician, but began working in a symphony orchestra. During this period, he became interested in jazz violin, listening to recordings by such masters as Stephane Grappelli and Stuff Smith. He even began playing jazz in small ensembles, not on the violin, but on the clarinet or saxophone.

Having become skilled in improvisational music, Ponti decided to apply his skills as a violinist to jazz. This happened in 1962 and continued during his military service, where he completely switched to jazz violin. Since 1964, Ponti has already performed with his ensemble, his recording appears on an album together with other famous jazz violinists. In 1967, Ponti came to the United States and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival. In America, he meets Frank Zappa, who includes him in his circle of activities. Since 1969, Ponti has recorded with American stars, with Zappa himself, as well as with the George Duke Trio. Then, returning to France, he created his own ensemble, the Jean-Luc Ponty Experience, which experimented mainly in the field of free jazz from 1970 to 1972. Then Ponti's career began to take off in America. First, he recorded with Frank Zappa on his album "Mothers of Invention", and then, in 1974-75, he became a member of the legendary "Mahavishnu Orchestra" of his second lineup. Having found himself in the circle of jazz-rock experimenters, Ponti himself became the main specialist in the field of improving the electronic violin, using all kinds of sound processors, effects and synthesizers to create a fundamentally new sound for his instrument.

Since the mid-70s, Ponti has recorded a number of excellent solo works for Atlantic. Ponti also records with a variety of famous artists, including Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola, and his idol Stefan Grappelli. Jean Luc Ponty went down in the history of modern music as one of those who was able to change the face of such an instrument as the violin, showing its new capabilities with the help of electronics, as well as using modern modal and melodic concepts that originated in the depths of fusion music.

called "one of the best jazz violins in the world", the spiritual son and heir of the legendary violinist Stéphane Grappelli, the inventor of a unique sound that allows French jazz to shine at the highest international level. He is the owner of several “gold” CDs, one of the best performers of Celtic music, an expert in various Eastern musical cultures, the founder of one of the most famous jazz colleges in Europe - in a place near Paris - a unique school that gives professional musicians from all over the world the opportunity to improve his mastery in the difficult art of musical improvisation.

The son of a violin professor and the brother of a jazz pianist, Lockwood inherited the former's passion for the instrument and the latter's love of sophisticated improvisation. He created an unprecedented musical wave, where the electric sound aroused intense interest and gained success thanks to the violin - a color standard of the highest quality.

At the age of 16, he received the First Prize of the National Conservatory of Kalais. This moment was the springboard to the beginning of his career in the mid-70s with the famous group "MAGMA".

Then, for almost 10 years, Didier Lockwood carefully mastered each type of performing activity, giving the opportunity to reveal his talent: from string trios to solos, from quartets to the synthesis group D.L.G..

Having won three stars in Down Beat, the world jazz bible, and winner of the First Musical Victoria, Didier feels at home in both jazz and classical music. He can combine spontaneity and technical mastery in his playing with the same spiritual ease and lyricism.

In 1993-1994 Lockwood celebrated the 20th anniversary of his creative activity, celebrating this with a figure of 1,000 concerts around the world, accepting invitations to the most prestigious international festivals.

In 1996, Didier made his debut as an author and performer with the First Concerto for electro-acoustic violin and symphony orchestra "Seagulls" in three movements, which was performed together with the National Lilly Orchestra conducted by Jean-Claude Casade, then with the Cannes orchestra. It was a triumph!

In 1999, he wrote a jazz opera at the Bastille Opera (Opera Bastilli) based on the libretto “Diary of a Space Passenger 2”, after which its successful march across France began. In the same year, Didier Lockwood was awarded the title of Officer of the Arts and the Order of the Minister of Culture.

In 2001, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin gave Didier Lockwood carte blanche to create a new work - "The Gift of the Future", which premiered at Matignon Palace, performed by the French National Orchestra together with twenty jazzmen.

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhindebuted for the first timeIn Paris when he was 10 years old. It is said about this outstanding musician of the 20th century that he became a citizen of the world even before he was born. His parents fled pogroms in Russia during World War I, met in Palestine and married in New York, where they had a son. At the age of 3, the little genius played complex pieces, at the age of 7 he performed in public for the first time, at 10 he went on a tour of Europe, at 11 he performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony Orchestra, playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and at the age of 18 he was already called an unsurpassed virtuoso. The great violinist, conductor and teacher spent his entire life touring around the world.

The violin is an instrument whose full sound capabilities in jazz are still unknown. However, the most inveterate skeptics now have to admit: it can become an adornment to an ensemble, allowing the creation of new musical forms, intonations, and accents.

Performers

24 Feb

House (club center)

Alexey Aigi

03 Mar

Alexey Kozlov's Club

Felix Lahouti

30s of the last century. The violin literally burst into jazz music. Three outstanding jazz violinists - Staff Smith (08/14/1909 - 09/25/1967), Stefan Grappelli (01/26/1908 - 12/01/1997), Joe Venuti (09/01/1904 - 08/14/1978) - delighted listeners with their amazing sound and improvisation, but The violin solo was played infrequently. The leading role was played by wind instruments. Later, Didier Lockwood and Jean-Luc Ponty proved that the violin can successfully solo in jazz.

The special complexity of the violin

You need to learn to play an instrument from childhood, this is the unanimous opinion of teachers, performers, and critics. Children's reflexes are better at learning the necessary skills. Training begins with a music school, then a college, a conservatory... By this time, the musician is usually already 25 years old.

Classically trained instrumentalists are not prepared to play jazz. This genre, formed from African rhythms, European harmony, Afro-European melodies, is far from the classical harmony instilled in violinists by academic education. Its characteristic feature is a special “pulsation” of the rhythm (swing). Even more difficult for a “classical” musician is the direct connection, impulsive response to the reaction of listeners, improvisational performance (and ensemble performance). All this is unusual for classical music. It requires many years of “immersion” and a different musical environment. Not everyone is able to start over again after reaching the age of 25–30.

Corypheas

Stephane Grappelli is a self-taught genius, admitted to the conservatory (1924 Paris, graduated in 1928). He was a theater performer. He played in orchestras at dance evenings. When the Hot Club of France (1933) held a jazz festival, he performed with Django Reinhardt (guitar). It was then that Pierre Nouri noticed them and suggested that they form a string ensemble. The “Hot Club of France Quintet” (three guitars, violin, bass) became popular. Recordings made by HMV, Ultrafon, Decca made Grappelli famous internationally. Even at the age of 89, he delighted the public with his performance.

Staff Smith, a rare exception, learned to play the violin when he was about 20 years old. He played in a trio with pianist Jimmy Jones and bassist John Leavy. Regular performances at the Onyx Club venue made them famous among jazz lovers. The trio did not have a drummer, but their swing delighted listeners. Only the Asch company made recordings of the ensemble.

Didier Lockwood's love for the violin was instilled in him by his father, a professor at the conservatory. Listening to his brother, a jazz pianist, gave Lockwood a taste for improvisation. He is considered the successor of the musical path of Stefan Grappelli. The electro-acoustic instrument made it possible to create a unique sound that attracted interest all over the world. Lockwood has several “golden” CDs, he is an excellent performer of Celtic music, and knows Eastern musical cultures. He created a jazz college in France, where professional musicians improve their jazz improvisation skills. Lockwood's work gave new impetus to the violin as an equal jazz instrument.

And, of course, our living classic and pride of the genre - People's Artist of the Russian Federation David Goloshchekin! He is not just a violinist, but a jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer. David Goloshchekin graduated from a special music school at the Leningrad Conservatory. He performed for the first time as a musician at the Tallinn 1961 jazz festival. He worked in various jazz groups, including Eddie Rosner. In 1963, in Leningrad he founded his own jazz “Goloshchekin Ensemble”. In 1971, during Duke Ellington's tour in Leningrad, he played in front of the famous jazzman, and then with him! In 1977, he recorded the album “Jazz Compositions,” where he performed almost all the instrumental parts. According to http://info-jazz.ru, in 1989 he organized the 1st State Philharmonic of Jazz Music in the country (Jazz Philharmonic Hall), constantly providing a stage for the best bands in the city. In 1994 he founded the annual international festival “White Night Swing”, as well as the “Autumn Marathon” competition for young jazz musicians. Performs at domestic and foreign festivals.