Ivan Farmakovsky (born February 1, 1973,

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 ...

, Russia) is a Russian jazz pianist, composer and arranger.

Biography

Born into a creative family of an actress and pianist, Ivan Farmakovsky attended a musical school under the studio of recreation center "Moskvorechie" since the age of 5. At that time this institution was practically the only school in The Soviet Union where jazz was part of educational program together with classical music. In 1988 he became student of the variety-jazz department of The

Gnessin State Musical College The Gnessin State Musical College (russian: link=no, Государственный музыкальный колледж имени Гнесиных) and Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (russian: Российская академия музык� ...

- continuing in

Gnessin Russian Academy of Music The Gnessin State Musical College (russian: link=no, Государственный музыкальный колледж имени Гнесиных) and Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (russian: Российская академия музык� ...

. One of Ivan's mentors wa
Igor Brill
one of Russia's most respected jazz pianists. During his student days, participated in various international competitions and succeeded to be a prize-winner in the Europe Jazz Contest in Belgium, 1997. Ivan's talent was noticed by saxophonist

Igor Butman Igor Butman PAR is a Russian jazz saxophonist born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1961. Butman holds dual citizenship for both the US and Russian Federation. He is considered to be a virtuoso saxophonist, and a skilled bandleader. American saxop ...

after him playing as sideman with

Benny Golson Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launch ...

and

Valery Ponomarev Valery Ponomarev, Russian: Вале́рий Миха́йлович Пономарёв, ''Valery Mikhaylovich Ponomaryov'', (born 1943) is a Russian-born jazz trumpeter. He has lived in the United States since 1973. Ponomarev became interested in j ...

. Soon after the gig, Ivan Farmakovsky became a member of Igor's quartet and Big Band. Since that time he played with

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

, Seamus Blake and many others.

Debut Album

In 2008 Ivan Farmakovsky recorded a debut album entitled "Next To The Shadow" which consisted of his own compositions. The recording took place at Sear Sound Studios,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, in collaboration with such musicians as

Ryan Kisor Ryan Kisor (born April 12, 1973) is an American jazz trumpeter. A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Kisor learned trumpet from his father, Larry Kisor, and started playing in a local dance band (the Eddie Skeets Orchestra) at age ten. Kisor began clas ...

(

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

), Ugonna Okegwo ( bass) and Gene Jackson (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

). The album was released physically in Russia (Boheme Music label, April 2009) and digitally in the US on Jazzheads (January 2010).

References

External links

Ivan Farmakovsky's official web site

Ivan Farmakovsky at Myspace

"Ivan Farmakovsky: Raising the Bar" - feature and interview by Cyril Moshkow at Allaboutjazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmakovsky, Ivan 1973 births Living people Russian jazz pianists Russian musicians 21st-century pianists