|
Winner of
the Montreux Jazz Festival, pianist Isfar Sarabski,
19,
makes his U.S.
debut at
Herb Alpert’s
Vibrato Grill Jazz...
LA’s
premier jazz venue,
“The
Best Supper Club in LA”
|
 Young
jazz pianist Isfar Sarabski, this year’s winner of the
piano competition at the 43rd
Montreux
International Jazz Festival, is giving his first concert
in the U.S. on October 26th at Herb Alpert’s
Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc. in Los Angeles with a jazz trio.
Not yet 20, the
young Azerbaijani pianist won the Public Prize (audience
award), and also won first place from the judges at
Montreux (shared with Georgian Beka Gochiashvili), for a
piece of his own composition, Novruz (“New
Year”). Beyond mere talent, Isfar displays a musical and
emotional depth which belies his youth.
"The lively
and emotional performance of Isfar was impossible to
ignore; he played with great technique and revealed his
deep understanding of the music."
– Jazz World
Magazine, on Sarabski’s performance at the Baku Jazz
Festival 2006, which also featured jazz legends Al
Jarreau and Herbie Hancock. Sarabski’s favorite
performers who have inspired him to compose are Keith
Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, Bill Evans, Oscar
Peterson, and
Vagif Mustafazadeh, the mythical Azerbaijani jazz
pioneer who fused jazz with the highly-evolved,
emotion-based,
 traditional yet improvisational Azeri
musical forms and modes called “mugam,” a
complex, spiritual form of conscious art which developed
and survived in the Caucasus for over 3,000 years. Given
Sarabski’s rich cultural influences, solid training and
early love of jazz... the musical depth of his choices
-
initially a pleasant surprise - awakens, sobers, then
delights as it ultimately connects us in a shared truth.
The
Montreux Jazz Festival is
the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of
the biggest and most prestigious jazz events in Europe.
It is held annually in early July in Montreux on the
shores of Lake Geneva and attracts an audience of more
than 200,000 people. Through the years, featured artists
such as Weather Report (1976), Eric Clapton
(1986), Herb Alpert
(1996), and Ray Charles (1997) have added to
Montreux’s expanding prestige. This year about 1,000
musicians took part in the renowned competition, which
lasted 2 weeks. |
|
 In
addition to winning at Montreux, Isfar Sarabski, born
November 2, 1989, has also performed at the Baku Caspian
Jazz and Blues Festival several times, the “Silda Jazz”
International Jazz Festival in Norway as well as the
International Jazz Festival in Russia,
all before reaching the ripe old
age of 20.
Since Herb
Alpert and Isfar Sarabski have a love of jazz
and Montreux in common, the choice of Herb Alpert’s
elegant venue for Isfar’s debut was a logical one.
“The Best Supper Club in LA,”
Vibrato is a
glorious space with world-class
sound, awarded Best of L.A.
for “Best Live Music in a
Restaurant” (2009, Los Angeles Magazine).
Legendary musician and producer Herb Alpert was
involved in every aspect of Vibrato, especially
making sure that the acoustics are beautiful. Herb
Alpert’s ear for musical quality is among the many
talents that helped him win 8 Grammy awards, sell over
75 million records to date, and produce countless
musical stars in the last five decades. |
