Boris Midney (born October 22, 1937) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

musician, producer, composer and conductor.

Biography

Midney was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to a conductor and pianist father and classical singer mother. He studied classical composition and clarinet also teaching himself to play saxophone. In 1964 he defected from the USSR via the US embassy in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Midney's main reason for leaving the USSR was the censorship of art. After arriving in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, he formed

The Russian Jazz Quartet The Russian Jazz Quartet was a jazz ensemble founded in 1964 by saxophonist and clarinetist Boris Midney and double bassist Igor Berukshtis who had defected from the Soviet Union. New Yorkers Roger Kellaway and Grady Tate also performed in the ens ...

with whom he recorded an album for

Impulse Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

. In the 1960s, Midney married Tania Armour from the

Armour & Company Armour & Company was an American company and was one of the five leading firms in the meat packing industry. It was founded in Chicago, in 1867, by the Armour brothers led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company had become Chicago's most ...

family. Later, Midney became a prolific composer and producer of

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano ...

although he rarely was credited under his own name. Using guises such as

USA-European Connection USA European Connection was a disco group created by producer Boris Midney and featuring vocals by Leza Holmes, Renne Johnson, and Sharon Williams. In 1978 USA European Connection hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with the '' Come int ...

, Masquerade, Double Discovery, Companion and Festival, Midney produced a large body of disco music. He is recognised as being among the first producers to take full advantage of 48-track recording and one of the creators of the

Eurodisco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

genre. Describing his disco music, critics Alan Jones and Jussi Kantonen wrote:

On the Mount Olympus of disco there are numerous gods but there is only one Zeus and his name is Boris Midney. He's the
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
,
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
and Stanley Kubric of the disco genre all rolled into one.

In 1999 Midney released ''Trancetter,'' a

progressive trance Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between 135–150 beats per minute ( ...

album.

Discography

* ''Music From The Empire Strikes Back'' ( RSO, 1980) * ''Trancetter'' (Max Music & Entertainment Inc., 1999) With

* ''Happiness'' (Impulse, 1964) With

Paul Levinson Paul Levinson (born March 25, 1947) is an American author, singer-songwriter, and professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in New York City. His novels, short fiction, and non-fiction works have been translated into ...

* ''

Twice Upon a Rhyme ''Twice Upon a Rhyme'' is an LP record by Paul Levinson with Ed Fox and Peter Rosenthal. It was released in 1972 by HappySad Records on vinyl. ''Twice Upon a Rhyme'' was recorded on and off from 1969 to 1971. It includes all original material ...

'' (

HappySad Records HappySad Records was an independent record label founded in 1971 by Paul Levinson and Ed Fox, taken over by Levinson in 1972. Its major release, '' Twice Upon a Rhyme'', was rediscovered and described thirty years later, in July 2002, in Japan's ...

, 1972) As

* '' Come Into My Heart'' (

Marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...

, 1978) * ''USA-European Connection'' (Marlin, 1978) As Beautiful Bend * ''Make That Feeling Come Again!'' (Marlin, 1978) As Festival * ''Evita'' (RSO, 1979) As Masquerade * ''Pinocchio'' (

Prelude Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form *Prelude (band), an English-based folk band *Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...

, 1979) As Caress * ''Caress'' (

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

., 1979) As Companion * ''Companion'' (

Barclay Barclay may refer to: People * Barclay (surname) * Clan Barclay Places * Barclay, Kansas * Barclay, Maryland, a town in Queen Anne's County * Barclay, Baltimore, Maryland, a neighborhood * Barclay, Nevada, a town in Lincoln County * Barclay, ...

, 1981)

References

Living people 1937 births Soviet defectors to the United States American disco musicians American jazz musicians American record producers {{US-musician-stub