November 26, 1983

Dear Hans

Here is my review of the Leningrad Festival.

The annual ‘Autumn Rhythms’ Jazz Festival was held in Leningrad on Nov. 16-20. The Festival which became the most representative jazz event in the USSR this year showed that traditional, main stream and Session [?] jazz with rare exceptions stayed in its imitative peripheral phase. In the Soviet new jazz after many original achievements there is noticeable tendency to nostalgic reflection and recollections…

On Nov. 16 Pjatras Vischnjauskas [Petras Vyšniauskas] 4tet performed (P.W. basset horn, as, ss; Witas Labutis, [Vytautas Labutis] p, ts; Leonid Schinkarenko, [Leonid Shinkarenko] el.b.; Gedas Laurinjawitschus [Gediminas Laurinavičius], dr) with 3-movement suite ‘The Searches & Discoveries’. No doubt that 4tet’s ‘credo’ is free jazz based on model music and in this field ensemble was excellent while more extreme searches failed sometimes.

On Nov. 17 Wladimir Tschekassin [Vladimir Chekasin] played with his 4tet (W.Tsch., as, ts, wooden fl, al, perc; Oleg Molokojedow [Oleg Molokoedov], p; L. Schinkarenko, el.b; Gedas Laurinjawitschus, [Gediminas Laurinavičius] dr.) Tschekassin’s composition entitled ‘Nostalgia’ evoked music of Ayler, Barbieri and jazz of the 60s (but without a quotation). The 4tet made music full of joy, game, freedom which is a real Art.

On Nov. 18 performed the Anatolj Wapirow 5tet including several top musicians (A.W. bl. Ts, as, ss; S. Kurjochin, p, dr, perc; Walentina Ponomarjowa [Valentina Ponomaryova], voc; Iwar Galenieks, b; Sergej Belitschenko, dr, perc. gongs). Sergej Belitschenko dropped our of the ensemble despite his tremendous drum setting and Kurjochin practically held rhythmic pulse with his simultaneous playing on keyboards, piano insides, drum and many percussions. He was the core of the 5tet and it was pity that cheap mysticism of Wapirow’s music didn’t stand in his and the rest musicians’ talents. Next day Wapirow played in the cast of the saxophone 4tet, which performed his Quartet No 1, op 25 (typical for jazz inspired classical music series of Banalities). After that Wapirow with Galenieks and Belitschenko played jazz standards with fine sound and mood, and I wish he’ll do only it forever

On Nov. 19 also performed the Gajworonsky (flgh) – Volkov (b) duo. The composition ‘The advance to the Past’ appeared as two successive long recitals of Wladimir Wolkow and Wjatscheslaw Gajvoronsky (during the latter’s solo Volkow produced different non-musical noises with his bass). Music of the duo spelt with its wit and wisdom, retrospective views and new original ideas, and this performance became after Tschekassin’s concert the second highlight of the Fest.

On Nov. 19&20 there were two performances of the Ganelin trio (Wjatscheslaw Ganelin, p, basset, casiotone, bugle, whistle, voice, perc; Wladimir Tarasow, dr, perc, gong, bugle; Wladimir Tschekassin, as, cl, wooden fl, whistle, perc). They played compostion ‘Samplice’ [Semplice?] written by Ganelin this year, and proved again that be able not to play badly. For the first time during last years the most noticeable person on the stage was Ganelin (partly thanks to his delicate and tactful using of the ‘Casiotone’ musical computer / synthesizers).

On Nov 20 the CMC organized at the ‘Club-81’ session presenting avantgarde jazz men which were not invited to the official festival. Performed the KLM trio comprising musicians of three cities: Alexander Kondraschkin, dr, perc, of Leningrad; Sergej Ljetow [Sergey Letov], brs, as, ss, oboe, piccolo, fls, of Moscow; Wladislaw Makarow, cello, gtr, of Smolensk. The KLM trio’s music is unique not only for the Soviet new jazz, and may be compared with strict, rough, non compromised approach of the Swedish “Lokomotiv Konkret”. After that with spontaneous improvisations performed Sergej Kurjochin (sax), Boris Grebenschtikow [Grebenshchikov, Grebenshikov] (cello, dr), Artjom Troizky [Artemy Troitsky](dr, cello) and others. –

Best wishes. Don´t you intend to visit Russia on Christmas holiday?

Yours Sergej