Alto saxophonist and composer Zhenya Strigalev is one of the rising stars of the European jazz scene and he is fast building a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic for his exhilarating take on contemporary jazz. His live shows are as exciting as they are uniquely eccentric, and after headlining around Europe with sold out shows at Porgy & Bess in Vienna and Ronnie Scott’s in London he brings his powerhouse trio featuring the extraordinary US bassist Michael Janisch (Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenon, Gary Husband) and first-call Spanish drummer Marc Ayza (Jason Linder, Greg Osby) to blend the lines between jazz, funk, rock, electronica and improv in a genre mish-mash of high calibre interplay and raw emotion.

Although an extremely driven individual Zhenya’s early path into music didn’t point to a career as a professional musician. With his father being a physics professor and his mother a chemist, it was through their love of music that he first discovered jazz. Although my father wasn’t a professional musician, he graduated from a music school and was a big fan of jazz. He was the one who brought me in to jazz and built my taste and preferences about jazz styles. Some of his favourite recordings were the ones by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald as well as the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Teddy Wilson, Coleman Hawkins, Ray Charles and Johnny Hodges. Saying that, it was my mainly mother who encouraged me to pursue my musical aspirations.

Wanting to pass on their enthusiasm for music they started him on piano aged eight. However, with a growing enthusiasm for jazz, at the age of fifteen he took up the saxophone. Having been bought a used saxophone by his grandfather he stopped practicing when the reed broke. Finally contacting the instrument’s former owner and informing him that he’d not touched the sax for three months, the man insisted he return the sax if he wasn’t really serious about playing. Jolted to his senses – and in now in possession of a replacement reed – he began practicing three hours a day and soon found himself studying at St Petersburg’s music academy. Forced to do national service with the Russian army soon after, his abilities on the sax were to save him from an unforgiving spell of sub-zero military service in Siberia. Instead he worked hard on his technique and went to jam sessions at night and played in the army band during the day.

At seventeen, Zhenya won The Best Saxophonist award in a well known St. Petersburg jazz competition and soon began performing at many leading European, Russian, and UK Festivals, as well as well as starting to tour internationally. Soon after completing his military service he was granted a full scholarship to attend London’s Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his outstanding musical talent. Once in London he also studied with such leading jazz musicians as Lee Konitz, Peter King, Bob Martin, Dave Holland, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Mark Turner, Jean Toussaint and Gerard Presencer. Having arrived in the city with practically no money and just his saxophone it’s testimony to Strigalev’s obvious talent, tenacious creativity and sheer hard work that he’s now regarded as one of the most exciting young musicians in London.

In late 2010 Zhenya decided to head to New York for an extended stay to immerse himself in the city’s buzzing jazz scene. Established among some of the world’s finest jazz musicians he played, listened, watched and wrote music that reflects his own restlessly imaginative style. This came together as a new album project, Smiling Organizm. A melodically accessible album, the dynamic set is fuelled by the rock-edged attitude of NYC’s influential Downtown scene, but happily slips between swing, free improv, modal vamps and darting post-bop forays without ever losing its compositional focus. The perfect distillation of jazz forged at the cutting edge of the contemporary music scene, performed by some of its most imaginative and virtuosic musicians, the album emphatically marks Strigalev’s artistic coming of age and his arrival as a creative force in his own right. This is joyful music that’s brimming with life.

There’s an experimental side to his playing that allows him to switch from free improv to hard-bop in an instant, all dispatched with razor sharp timing and effortless, fluid technique. Yet his passionate approach is driven by strong melodies and canny rhythmic explorations as reflected in his various collaborations with leading London-based jazz musicians such as Nick Ramm, Gene Calderazzo, Seb Rochford, John Parricelli, Ashley Slater, Tom Cawley, Mike Mondesir to name but a few.

Michael Janisch is an electric and double bassist, composer, bandleader, producer and record label owner, originally from the USA currently based in London. As a bassist he’s known for his versatility, full-toned sounds and passion for playing time and groove with authenticity and dedication, no matter the context. A keen improviser, he has been described as virtuosic and emphatic (The Guardian) and Bass Musician Magazine asserts Janisch is one of the few bass players out there who plays both electric and upright with equal facility, passion and musicality. Working in contemporary improvised music, with prominent musicians from both sides of the Atlantic, including Jim Hart, Walter Smith III, Mike Moreno, Jason Palmer, Paul Booth, Aaron Goldberg, Phil Robson and Jonathan Blake.

Purpose Built was also the impetus for the creation of Janisch’s new record label, Whirlwind Recordings which made an immediate impact on both sides of the Atlantic, was described as: The new label of the moment, releasing a diverse cross section of excellent music. (BBC Radio 2)

Since the formation of Whirlwind in January 2010, Michael has become an in-demand producer with over 70 credited sessions to date. As a seasoned performer, session musician, composer and arranger, bandleader and record label owner who understands both the artistic and business elements of releasing music in today’s world. Janisch’s new electro-acoustic six piece band Paradigm Shift has been thrilling audiences across Europe.

Marc Ayza, drummer, composer and eventually DJ is one of the most restless musicians from the Spanish scene, more active in jazz in the last 10 years.

He is characterized by an incisive touch and a great musicality and moving with the same fluency both in Jazz and Hip Hop; he always gives his personal touch whether it is be a sideman or leading his own groups. Based in Barcelona, his groove-orientated musicality is making him attractive to a growing number of collaborators from across a wide genre of musics, an exciting talent to check out.

zhenyastrigalev.com

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