Jazz and teamwork of souls

Totally non-academic music was performed at the Grand Hall of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine: noted jazz musicians Arkady Shilkloper (French horn and Alpine horn) and Vadym Neselovsky (grand piano) presented their joint project for the audience. This creative tandem started its existence a year ago and German audience was the first to hear the “New breath of traditions.”

Both artists are equally apt in composition; they are virtuoso players who freely improvise: universal talent combined with a high level of masterfulness enabled these wizards to create their “ordinary miracle.” Two hours of the concert passed smoothly, it was a combination of the instant creative effort of the musicians and warm reception of the audience.

The program featured Sadness by Neselovsky, which brought him victory at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010. The concert could not do without Shilkloper’s specialty, compositions for Alpine horn. Their music is marked with naturalness and sincerity, which enables to seamlessly combine the elements of jazz, classical, and ethnic music traditions with easy improvisation and expression.

The astonishing teamwork of the duo which combines the instruments of totally different nature and possibilities is a rare phenomenon, which is quite impressing and totally unthinkable without “soul teamwork” of the performers. Neselovsky explained how the musicians achieved mutual understanding. “I thought it would be complicated because we belong to different generations. I treat Shilkloper with great piety, so I did not know whether we would be able to cooperate honestly, because joint work calls for mutual criticism. But he made me understand right away that we could communicate as equals and made everything possible to find a performing balance. Of course, that was his merit as well as the skill not to set himself above me.” Arkady Shilkloper and Vadym Neselovsky are also planning to record a joint album.