CD: Juri Artamonov Trio - Moskauer Fenster

On his new CD “Moskauer Fenster” (Moscow Windows), jazz pianist Yuri Artamonov from Moscow brings back to life the great days of cinema in the USSR from the 30s to the 50s with movie hits that every Soviet citizen knew. By the 30s at the latest, "big" cinema was not only being done in the west, but in the Soviet Union as well. But the composers and performers were not named Friedrich Holländer, Michael Jary, Marlene Dietrich or Zarah Leander, but rather Isaak Dunayevsky, Leonid Utyosov and Lyubov Orlova.

Yuri Artamonov took the most famous of these melodies, which have long become evergreens in his native Russia, and arranged them in swinging style for his trio. In addition to the music from films, Artamonov’s selection contains well-known songs, such as “Krokodil Gena” or the song about the fir tree “Yolotschka”. It also features chanson like “Waltz Boston” by Alexander Rozenbaum and the hit swing piece “Moscow Windows” from the 1950s, which gave the CD its name.

The CD includes a total of 16 newly recorded evergreens in audiophile quality, that is 66 minutes worth of jazz in the tradition of the great piano trios and, by the same token, a swingy reminder of a section of cultural history. It’s a must for all friends of eastern music, a treasure trove for lovers of swing from the west, because the “Moscow Windows” offer a surprisingly different vista on the world of "East-Bloc” jazz! Here you can listen ...