Eldar Djangirov Biography
Eldar Djangirov, a celebrated piano prodigy from Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet Union, plays hard bop and post-bop with levels of speed, intricacy and authority that belie both his youth and his status as a non-American. The young musician/composer—who mainly concentrates on acoustic piano but occasionally doubles on electric keyboards—possesses a crystalline style that demonstrates the influence of Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, while sometimes echoing the playful adventurousness of Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. Eldar began recording as a leader in his mid-teens, and scored a major-label contract before his 18th birthday.
Born on January 28, 1987, Eldar began studying piano with his music-teacher mother at the age of five. At nine, he performed at a Russian jazz festival where he was seen by American jazz aficionado Charles McWhorter, who helped Eldar to attend a summer camp at Michigan’s renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. He remained in America to continue his studies, settling first in the historic jazz stronghold of Kansas City, before relocating to San Diego and then to the Los Angeles area, where he attended the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, before settling in New York.
Eldar was 14 in 2001, when he recorded the first of two independently released albums. Three years later, he signed with Sony Classical and recorded Eldar, released in 2005 and presenting his talents in spare trio and quartet settings, with John Patitucci on bass and Michael Brecker on tenor sax. The following year saw the release of Live at the Blue Note. 2007’s Re-Imagination found Eldar further refining his technique, while stretching out with solo piano pieces and some electronic touches.
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