Eldar in Rochester, NY

[PaintedPostDave]

Eldar and his trio of bassist Marco Panascia and drummer Todd Strait played several songs from their "Live at the Blue Note" CD. Karrin Allyson sat in on two tunes per set. The venue was The Lodge at Woodcliff in Fairmont, near Rochester, an upscale resort and conference center. We attended Wednesday night and the place was packed. The sound system was good and the patrons were surprizingly quiet.

For the few who don't know, Eldar Djangirov is a 19 year old phenom, originally from Krygyzstan, who exhibits bits of Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum in an amazingly original style featuring massive virtuosity on the flag wavers and a beautiful touch on the ballads and the vocal accompaniment.

The environment was top notch, the food was good and the bartenders left you alone, the prices were reasonable (no cover) and the piano, a Yamaha baby grand, sounded in tune. Usually, I spend Wednesday nights at the Green Pastures bar in Elmira but I couldn't pass this up and I'm glad I didn't.

[cookie]

I was so glad you and Denise could make it! It was a very special two-days for me. I loved all of the musicians and had a chance to hang after-hours with them. They are all so nice. I loved Karrin. She's a very down-to-earth, fun, person.

I also enjoyed the atmosphere and agree that the sound was excellent. Things got a bit noisier by the second set, but at least people *were* responsive to the band's dynamic, and the murmer rose and fell with the dynamics. And talk about dynamics! Eldar has an amazing dynamic range. He's one of those guys who can play pianissimo with clarity; he extracted amazing tone (to my ears) from that little piano.

I bought the Live at the Blue Note disc and listened to it on the way home. I know it will be spinning in my disc player for years to come.

(and btw: the Woodcliff's in Fairport. I'll take this part out when you have a chance to edit your post).

[PaintedPostDave]

Hi Cookie. I thought I would use the Rochester tag since more people know where that is and, as I mentioned in the note, it is near Rochester. I did try to make an edit but could not change the title. Hope the FC gig is fun and the crowd is large. I would try to induce Denise to come but both of us get bad vibes from the guitar playing leader. I wonder if you will play the Yamaha upright or your Roland.

[cookie]

Hi Dave--
I understand the Rochester in your thread title and you're smart to do that. I'm talking about the reference to "Fairmont" as opposed to "Fairport." Not a huge deal; I'm sure folks could figure it out.

I'll be playing the Kurzweil tonight. I'd rather play the upright, but because there's some reunion going on, we've been requested to "blues it up." The blues is fine, but what the owner is *really* requesting is that we play more rock than jazz. Not my favorite kind of gig, but I like the guys and they'll get me through it and I can keep the solos short.

Too bad I can't get Eldar to sub for me! That cat could play anything I'm sure. I hope he comes back to Rochester (or anywhere around here) soon!

[PaintedPostDave]

Now I see! Fairmont/Fairport. Is that lysdexia? Have a good gig at FC. If we get to GP Sunday perhaps I can share some comments about Eldar from a pianist that we both dig.