Simon Nabatov (born 11 January 1959) is a Russian-American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist.

Early life

Nabatov was born in Moscow on 11 January 1959. His parents were Leon, a professional pianist and choir conductor who was a native of Belarus, and Regina. Nabatov began playing the piano at the age of three and his first composition was at six. He attended a Duke Ellington concert in Moscow in 1971 and his determination to become a jazz musician was reinforced a year later at a Thad Jones–Mel Lewis Orchestra performance. By the age of 17 he was playing

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

with other musicians in Moscow. His formal education in music was at the Central School of Music and then the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

. Nabatov and his parents were permitted to leave the

Soviet Union 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, ...

in 1979. This was ostensibly to join family members in Israel, but the Nabatovs instead flew to Italy and applied for visas to enter the United States. While waiting for a visa, Nabatov gained experience by becoming the house pianist at the Mississippi Jazz Club in Rome and was helped and encouraged by clarinettist

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

. The family eventually reached the United States and settled in

LeFrak City LeFrak City (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced ) is a 4,605-apartment development in the southernmost region of Corona and the easternmost part of Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located between Junct ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York City.

Later life and career

Nabatov attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

from 1980 to 1984. In 1981, he accompanied avant-garde dancer

Kazuo Ohno was a Japanese dancer who became a guru and inspirational figure in the dance form known as Butoh. He is the author of several books on Butoh, including ''The Palace Soars through the Sky'', ''Dessin'', ''Words of Workshop'', and ''Food for the ...

in performances in New York. In 1984, the magazine ''

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

'' named him Best Pianist. After graduating, "he played chamber music and accompanied choirs and former Soviet singing stars touring the growing circuit of Russian communities in the United States." He became an American citizen in 1986. That year, he recorded a trio album, ''Circle the Line'', with bassist

Ed Schuller Edwin Gunther Schuller (January 11, 1955) is an American jazz bassist and composer. His father is Gunther Schuller, a composer, horn player, and music professor, and his younger brother is drummer George Schuller. Career A native of New York Ci ...

and drummer

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the l ...

. Often travelling to Europe, he was a member of bands led by Ray Anderson,

Arthur Blythe Arthur Murray Blythe (May 7, 1940 – March 27, 2017) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a f ...

, Steve Lacy and

Perry Robinson Perry Morris Robinson (September 17, 1938 – December 2, 2018) was an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He was the son of composer Earl Robinson. Early life and education Robinson was born and grew up in New York City. He attended the Le ...

, and played with the NDR Hamburg radio big band. Nabatov also toured Germany with Matthias Schubert, "with the drummer Ernst Bier, and with a tap-dance group". In 1989, he and his German partner settled in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. Nabatov made his name with a series of inventive trio albums with

Mark Helias Mark Helias (born October 1, 1950) is an American double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He started playing the double bass at the age of 20, and studied with Homer Mensch at Rutgers University from 1971 to 1974, then ...

and

Tom Rainey Tom Rainey (born 1957) is an American jazz drummer. Career After attending Berklee College of Music he moved to New York in 1979. He has played with Tim Berne, Nels Cline, Drew Gress, Mark Helias, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, Simon Nabatov, T ...

; he also often works with the trombonist

Nils Wogram Nils Wogram (born 7 November 1972) is a jazz trombonist, composer and bandleader. He began classical study at the age of fifteen. He was a member in the National German Youth Big Band, participated in classical competitions and formed his own ba ...

in duet or in larger ensembles. His most important work so far, however, has been a series of albums on Leo devoted to jazz tone-poem responses to Russian authors. ''Nature Morte'' is based on a poem by

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

; ''The Master and Margarita'' is a suite inspired by the novel of the same name by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

; and ''A Few Incidences'' contains octet settings of the enigmatic texts of the poet

Daniil Kharms Daniil Ivanovich Kharms (russian: Дании́л Ива́нович Хармс; – 2 February 1942) was an early Soviet-era Russian avant-gardist and absurdist poet, writer and dramatist. Early years Kharms was born as Daniil Yuvachev ...

. Crucial to the two vocal discs have been the contributions of British singer

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

. Nabatov has taught at several institutions, including the

Folkwang Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in E ...

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

(1989–91), the International Jazz and Rock Academy in

Remscheid Remscheid () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south ...

(1991–93), and the

Musikhochschule Luzern The Lucerne School of Music (''Hochschule Luzern – Musik'') is a professional school for musicians located in Lucerne, Switzerland, and closely associated with the city's annual music festival. It is a division of the Lucerne University of Ap ...

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

With

* ''Nightmare Island Live at the Leverkusener Jazztage'' (West Wind, 1989) * ''Call to the Stars'' (West Wind, 1990) * ''Angelology'' (Phonector, 2006) With

* ''Round Trip'' (Enja, 1996) * ''Speed Life'' (Enja, 1998) * ''Odd and Awkward'' (Enja, 2001) * ''Construction Field'' (Altrisuoni, 2003) * ''The Move'' (Between the Lines, 2005) * ''Portrait of a Band'' (Enja, 2007) * ''Moods & Modes'' (Nwog, 2010) With others *

Franco Ambrosetti Franco Ambrosetti (born 10 December 1941) is a jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. He was born in Lugano, Switzerland; his father, Flavio, was a saxophonist who once played opposite Charlie Parker.Music for Symphony and Jazz Band ''Music for Symphony and Jazz Band'' is an album by the trumpeter/flugelhornist and composer Franco Ambrosetti which was recorded in 1990 and released on the Enja label the following year.

'' (Enja, 1991) * Ray Anderson, ''Every One of Us'' (Gramavision, 1992) * Michael Gibbs & NDR Bigband, ''Back in the Days'' (Cuneiform, 2012) *

Alfred 23 Harth Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres. Career Harth founded a free improvisation band, Just Music (1967 to 1972 ...

, ''POPendingEYE'' (Free Flow Music, 1993) *

Rolf Liebermann Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...

& NDR Big Band, ''Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra'' (Naxos, 2002) *

Rudi Mahall Rudi Mahall (born December 23, 1966) is a contemporary jazz bass clarinetist. While studying classical clarinet, Mahall shifted towards contemporary music, improvisation and jazz. He is, or was a member of following bands: Avantgardeband ''Die ...

, ''Nicht Ohne Robert Vol. 1'' (Jazz Haus Musik, 2009) *

, ''Circle the Line'' (GM, 1988) * Marcin Oles, ''Walk Songs'' (Fenommedia, 2006) *

Daniel Schnyder Daniel Schnyder (born March 12, 1961 in Zurich) is a Swiss jazz reedist and composer of both jazz and classical music. Schnyder learned to play cello before saxophone. He attended Berklee College of Music and the Conservatory of Winterthur. H ...

, ''Winds'' (Koch, 1991) * Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabatov, Simon 1959 births Avant-garde jazz pianists Juilliard School alumni Living people Musicians from Moscow Russian jazz pianists 21st-century pianists Leo Records artists ACT Music artists NoBusiness Records artists