David Gazarov Trio - Bachology (2015)

In the recent past, there have been very few cases of musicians filling in on short notice for more famous colleagues who became ill and like David Gazarov immediately became stars themselves. The story began in October 2011 after a performance by Jacques Loussier had to be cancelled on very short notice. After a rehearsal of a mere 90 minutes, David Gazarov (born in Azerbaijan, studied in Moscow, currently residing in Zagreb) delighted the Loussier fans. Critics spoke of a worthy successor... . The subsequent concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic, in Hamburg, Hannover, Bremen and Stuttgart confirmed and enhanced his success. The critics rhapsodized about Gazarov s delicacy, strength, virtuosity and innovative power, writing: 'Under the title BACHOLOGY, he demonstrated how far the art of piano improvisation surrounding Bach s works can go in the 21st century. First, he played the entire piece almost in the original version, changing the harmonics only slightly. Then, he took just a few bars of the primary motif and made it into a bebop lasting nearly ten minutes, subsequently demonstrating the richness of jazz harmonics and rhythm according to the classic principle of the theme with variations. An abundance of talent and surprises: breathtaking technique, a subtle touch, a wide range of timbres, ingenuity and a tremendous amount of feeling, masterful strokes of genius... sometimes it s as if Art Tatum and Vladimir Horowitz were vacationing together in the Orient.' (Jazzthetik)