Njazz w/ Alex Nadjarov
33
[A. Nadjarov, 2004]
Review by LB
Date: Jan, 2006 [8 Tracks 57:56 Total-Spin-Time]
I am always on the hunt for new, exciting and fresh sounding jazz. This newest discovery comes from Moscow, Russia. The quartet is called njazz headed by Alex Nadjarov, the cd has the unique title of “33” and the project consist of contemporary, fusion and straight-ahead music. The entire project is kind of fun to listen to because of the playful and high-spirited interaction between the musicians.
This is a very young (twenty-something) group of artists who demonstrate a compassion for jazz music. When you listen to them play you sense this emotion. Alex Nadjarov strikes me as one of those incredibly talented individuals who has a great future ahead of him. He is a serious leader and allows his band mates to stretch out on solos.
The cd consist of seven original compositions by Alex N. and a tribute to Kenny Garrett’s “Wayne’s Thang.” The cd is diverse in style and causes one to listen intently to the music.
Track one, “My Capuccino,” opens the “33” with a nice mid-tempo sound and is an excellent way to introduce the listener to the project. It definitely showcases Alex’s keyboard skills. The sax player, Konstantin Safyanov, is spot lighted on the second track, “33.” This song has a nice contemporary straight-ahead feel. “Landscape,” track four, is a flute (Dmitriy Grishin) and piano lovers delight. This track is a beautiful interplay of these two instruments with great support by the drummer (Alexander Ivanov) and bass player (Alex Stefanofskiy).
In my opinion, a freshman project like “33” showcases what’s best about jazz. It’s not about names, hype, or grandstanding; it’s about who works hard at practicing, playing live gigs and then deciding to capture the essence of their style in the studio to share with others. It caused me to float along buoyed by the melody of the songs.
As you go deeper into the project you encounter the almost dreamy fairytale ballad style on track six, “Expectation.” Next, “Eclipse,” struck me as somewhat dark but very engaging. Alex Ivanov, the drummer does some fantastic playing on this track. The last track is “Wayne’s Thang” and demonstrates how confident these musicians are to tackle another artist’s composition. Konstantin Safyanov, sax player, is again in the spot light and does a fantastic job. The quartet personalized the song and played it superbly.
This band and cd are worth checking out. I am very pleased with the fact that I followed through with the post Alex N. made at contemporaryjazz.com and added “33” to my cd collective. When I dropped the cd into my player and pushed play it was only a short time later that I said, “YES, this one’s a keeper.”
Visit, Njazz web space: njazz
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