Misha Tsiganov, who has turned up in earlier blogposts, is back with a lovely new recording, "Spring Feelings." It has been reviewed by Cyrill Moshkow, in the March 2016 edition of the jazz portal, Jazz.Ru. I have included, below, a translation into English from the original Russian:
"Dutch producer Gerry Teekens, the head of Criss Cross Jazz, has the amazing talent to support and record in the top New York recording studios the best projects of the masters of jazz, who are gathered in the capital of the jazz world. Many of them constantly play with one another simultaneously on half a dozen projects. And so the second solo album which is being released on Criss Cross by Misha Tsiganov, a New York pianist originally from Leningrad, brings together his own partners from various projects. The outstanding “Russian American” trumpet player, Alex Sipiagin, constantly plays with Tsiganov in duets as well as in number of ensembles. The edgy and consistent drummer, Donald Edwards, is a member of the group Opus 5, with whom Tsiganov toured when substituting for pianist Dave Kikoski. The same applies to saxophonist Seamus Blake, who visited Russia with Manhattan Time Quintet, a joint project of Sipiagin and Tsiganov. Misha also has worked a lot with the experienced Austrian jazz musician, bass player Hans Glawischnig, who like Misha, has been part of the New York jazz scene since the nineties. In short, saying that this is a strong ensemble consisting of first-rate soloists is actually saying nothing. The main thing is that these masters are united by Tsiganov’s music. The album includes four originals by Tsiganov and four adaptations of jazz standards which stylistically and aesthetically sound as an organic whole. It is a powerful portrait of modern, not museum-nostalgic, striving into the future, New York mainstream jazz. Complex math puzzles and carefully calculated harmonic schemes connect with beautiful melodies, accessible even to an unprepared listener, in an energetically turbulent rhythmic environment that grabs the listener and carries him to breathtaking heights of musical virtuosity, sometimes almost head over heels. These virtuosos do not merely display high mastery - mastery is just the means- the means to convey emotions and share the joy of clever, beautiful full of ideas music."
Two reviews of “Spring Feelings” also appear in the March
2016 issue of AllAboutJazz:
"…pianist extraordinaire Misha Tsiganov… presenting a
superb selection of five outrageous originals and four reimagined standards...
another marvelous foray on the keys…" (Edward Blanco)
"…Tsiganov explores a new approach to quintet orchestration…
really remarkable music… From conception to execution, this music succeeds on
all fronts." (Andrew Luhn)
You can get an MP3 of “Spring Feelings” from iTunes:
Furthermore, the recording is available in both MP3 and CD
formats at Amazon:
For further information about Misha and his music, check out his website: http://www.mishajazz.com.
