"What all this music has in common is willingness to explore mixed methodologies to break new ground, articulating possibilities, experiences and fresh reservoirs of consciousness. Together Nabatov, Lubbe and Davis mark out fresh and delightful terrain, whether it's taut reverie, ecstatic turmoil or zones and conditions that resist binary, tertiary or any other kind of naming."
Stuart Broomer
1. Situation 1 Unfold - Fold 11:36
2. Situation 2 Reverie 08:49
3. Situation 3 Stern Looks 08:51
4. Situation 4 Sunrise Twice 08:33
5. Situation 5 Temper Issues 06:28
6. Situation 6 Meta Morph 10:36
All music by Simon Nabatov (GEMA)
Simon Nabatov - piano
Gareth Lubbe - viola
Ben Davis - violoncello
Recorded by Christian Heck in LOFT Cologne November 21 2015
The history of the LUBATOV duo is a series of discrete events that took place over the past decade - a few concerts occurring once a year at the most, but, luckily, recorded every time these two brilliant musicians presented their music in Cologne's LOFT.
The CD comprises two such documents, captured in 2010 and 2014, thus demonstrating the trajectory of the tandem's musical evolution over the course of years.
Free(ly) improvised music informed by the elements of classical or new academic fields is not a novel proposal per se. However, here the aesthetics and compositional tactics of the Modern Classics of the 20th century seem to be the prevalent taste, while keeping the recipes wide open to other possibilities.
The duo clearly prefers to create spontaneous yet well defined macro-forms, as opposed to cut-and-chop proceedings so often permeating the world of improvisation these days.
Add to the mix Lubbe's mesmerizing and innovative vocals, and you have an hour of compelling and absorbing music to enjoy.
Nick Duvidowski
1. Plush Suite I 08:53
2. Plush Suite II 08:11
3. Plush Suite III 03:53
4. Plush Suite IV 03:10
5. Plush Suite V 09:31
6. Suite In Be I 09:18
7. Suite In Be II 06:14
8. Suite In Be III 04:31
9. Psalm 07:40
All music by Gareth Lubbe (GEMA) and Simon Nabatov (GEMA)
This was the second piano trio album I recorded in the search for the perfect bandmates in this format, and it worked for me on so many levels... I owe a lot to these two incredible guys, both musically and personally.
The band stayed together, toured and recorded once again some years later (the CD "Sneak Preview").
Kevin Whitehead wrote in Village Voice in July 1993:
For a sterling piano trio, try Russian-born Simon Nabatov's "Tough Customer" (enja), with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Rainey. These three are so close, it's almost a crowd. Nabatov, Ray Anderson's regular pianist, was Moscow Conservatory-trained, but he swings anyway, with great articulation and diamant-hard attack even at insane tempos."Tough Customer" features snaky bass vamps, fiendish metrical intricacies and a frequently shifting landscape. ...you'll dig this.
1. Puzzled 09:30
2. The Sage 13:02
3. Professor Of The Air Science 07:51
4. Kdreefta Molaina 08:45
5. Mark This 16:08
6. Tough Customer 12:00
7. Simple Simon 06:24
Simon Nabatov - piano
Mark Helias - bass
Tom Rainey - drums
all compositions by Simon Nabatov (GEMA), except
tracks 3, 4 - by Mark Helias (Radio Legs Music/BMI)
recorded January 27, 1992 at the WDR Radio Studio, Cologne
A suite for a large ensemble of 2 singers and 9 instrumentalists, based on excerpts from letter exchanges between famous couples of the art world - Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, among others.
1. Georgia 08:36
2. Amour Fou 05:21
3. Anaïs 08:51
4. Sylvia 04:21
5. Ella 09:24
6. Clara 10:34
7. Lili 06:01
8. Frida - Platotudes 06:01
Rebekka Ziegler - voice
Tobias Christl - voice
Udo Moll - trumpet
Janning Trumann - trombone
Leonhard Huhn - alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet
Sebastian Gille - tenor saxophone
Axel Porath - viola
Nathan Bontrager - cello
Stefan Schönegg - bass
Dominik Mahnig - drums
Simon Nabatov - piano, composition
all music by Simon Nabatov (GEMA)
published by Alissa Publishing/PRS
recorded in LOFT Cologne May 20 2021
recorded, mixed and mastered by Stefan Deistler
liner note by Stuart Broomer
photo by Stefan Deistler, cover design by Erich Teneta
The miracle of a happy first encounter unfolds with something like the sudden ease of dreams, you can fly, what seemed impossible and insoluble is now radiant with self-evidence, the music makes itself, will anything again ever seem difficult? One night in Brooklyn a few years ago, an architecture of glimpses grew out from somewhere in the middle of time.There were rooms and towers and spaces and bridges, tangles and tangos, the dance of distance and convergence, and through it all the dawning discovery of a shared sense of balance, drama, form, resonance and sympathy. And then was forgotten...
So happy that Max Johnson instigated this encounter, that Simon was willing, that Randy Thaler documented the event, and that the document was unearthed from Simon's Vaults in the midst of a pandemic that has obliterated the possibility of such mischiefs and miracles, for musicians in Brooklyn at least, and at least for a while longer. Michaël Attias
1. Glimpses & Tangles 12:20
2. Gowanus By Night 05:25
3. Languid/The Spinning Song 16:13
4. Glances 08:29
5. Poetic Bug Bite 10:41
Michaël Attias - alto saxophone
Simon Nabatov - piano
recorded live at IBeam, Brooklyn on July 6 2014
recorded & mixed by Randy Thaler
mastered by Stefan Deistler
cover design by Erich Teneta
all music by Michaël Attias (Ravished Limbs Music/SESAC )
Let's be clear from the start. There's nothing "plain" about the new recording by Simon Nabatov, if by plain you mean "not attractive" or "undistinguished". Nabatov clarifies: "in Plain I was consciously looking for that minimum of compositional conditions which would provide an interesting work frame. I mean "plain" as in simple, understandable, approachable - not as primitive or boring, and hoped to walk this thin dividing line (hopefully on the right side)." Be assured he has succeeded magnificently. Unsurprising really when you consider his background. Since leaving the Soviet Union in 1979 aged 20, Nabatov has brought a breathtaking finesse to a staggering range of styles, equally at home in modern jazz, free improvisation, the canons of Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols, and Brazilian music, as well as his own works which defy easy classification.
Plain is the second in an ongoing series of recordings (after 2019's excellent Last Minute Theory) in which Nabatov reconnects with the NYC scene after some 30 years, enthused by the increasing profile there for challenging music. He's recruited some of the city's finest talents for this session. Having worked twice with Chris Speed in the past he knew he wanted the reedman on board. "I’ve been a big fan for a long time. Love his clarinet sound, love this instrument." And of course it recalls Nabatov's first significant gig with the late clarinetist Perry Robinson. Alongside him is trumpeter Herb Robertson, a consummate player who's made a career out of avoiding the obvious, who appeared on Nabatov's The Master And Margarita (Leo, 2001).
"He is definitely one of the unsung heroes of this music." Anchoring the band is the formidable tandem of Tom Rainey and John Hébert, a staple from the bands of Kris Davis and Ingrid Laubrock. While Nabatov's alliance with Rainey is longstanding, he's never performed with Hébert before. That fits the template: "The idea is to have on board at least one or two I never played with, but enjoyed their musicianship for some time."
That push-pull between familiarity and the unknown finds its echo in the material which mixes mood-morphing pieces with others where a narrative is more easily discerned. But whatever the conception, the outcome is thrilling. The mutable title track begins with a coolly elegant duet between Nabatov and Speed, on that clarinet, before becoming by turns portentous, rhapsodic, choppy and sparkling. Like all the charts here it contains more than enough leeway for the starry cast to lean into, and their sensitivity, commitment and exceptional prowess prove a continual pleasure as they ease gracefully between unfettered expression and precise notation.
Each number is its own world, often embracing similar juxtapositions. That's evident on "Copy That" where the tightly coiled theme is set amid lightly plotted interplay which includes a bristling tenor/trumpet exchange, and on "Cry From Hell" where the jaunty melody is bookended by inspired ensemble give and take. If you detect a Brazilian flavour here you would not be wrong. Nabatov is a mad keen fan of the country's popular music, and visits regularly. "The core tune is written in the genre "Choro" - a very popular instrumental genre born in Rio de Janeiro in the 1870s. The Portuguese word "choro" means a cry. And since it’s not exactly a clean authentic reading of the music - why not a somewhat ironic title?"
"Rambling On", the only improv on the date, envelops a text by Robertson, delivered through a bullhorn. "I felt its harsh nature would be a good contrast to the rest of the program. It has the compelling nature of a passionate (political?) statement, reflecting something of the zeitgeist of today." Nabatov rounds off the album with an urbane rendition of Herbie Nichols' "House Party Starting". As he explains, "It displays my take on "plain" perfectly - no hip arrangement, an unadorned, soothing conclusion."
What better way to finish. John Sharpe
1. Plain 12:00
2. Copy That 08:38
3. Cry From Hell 06:50
4. Break 07:42
5. Ramblin' On 03:03
6. Slow Thinker 10:29
7. House Party Starting 07:30
Chris Speed - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Herb Robertson - trumpet, cornet, voice
Simon Nabatov - piano
John Hébert - bass
Tom Rainey - drums
all music by Simon Nabatov (GEMA)
except track 5 (collective improv on the text of Herb Robertson)
and track 7 by Herbie Nichols
recorded June 1 2019 at the Trading8s Studio, New Jersey
recorded by Christopher Sulit, mixed and mastered by Stefan Deistler
Simon Nabatov spent the better part of the 1980s in New York City, finishing his studies while simultaneously working as a freelance musician primarily in jazz as well as wherever else his versatility would take him. It was certainly quite an adventure for a recent émigré from the Soviet Union. Following this fertile period in New York, he began a new chapter in his musical path with a move to Cologne, Germany in 1989 where he remains to this day. Many well-documented projects and collaborations unfolded since that move, often (but not only) with musicians based in Europe.
In September of 2018 Nabatov, after many years of exploring predominantly free improvised music, went to New York City with a desire to explore a more traditional jazz setting with a hand-picked group of master musicians; colleagues with whom he shares musical sensibilities and tastes. Some of them he has known for a long time, but never played a note together before, like saxophonist Tony Malaby, with some of them he already shared the stage on a number of occasions, like the drummer Gerald Cleaver. Completing this formidable band is guitarist Brandon Seabrook, and bassist Michael Formanek. It can be easily said of all four musicians that they participate for many years now in writing the history of jazz from the New York perspective.
The album opens with the nostalgic stroll „Old Fashioned“. The band gets right away into a leisurely stride, with a few odd bars in the tune to assure a slight stumbling effect along the way. The overall modus operandi is hinted at, with Malaby’s robust melodic voice propelling the story, Seabrook’s unique method of blending seemingly incongruous elements into one marvel, and the rhythm section providing a solid and supple feel.
„Slow Move“ appears to suspend the time, with an austere atmosphere driven by spiky chords. The piece travels through a series of mysterious episodes, Malaby’s soaring soprano sax is well-matched with Seabrook’s breath-of-dragon effects – before returning briefly to the initial material.
„Rickety“ starts as a relatively sparse and light premise, but promptly develops into a rambunctious all-in collective dance, groovy and ecstatic, with twirling lines atop charged by Montuno-like piano figures.
Nabatov admits that the political moods in his former residence made their way into his mind, hence the „Marching Right Along“, a piece reflecting the resolve of people who raise their voices for the common good. Gerald Cleaver invites us into this feeling with his succinct introduction.
„Translated“ evokes the dreamy feel of the musical worlds of the great late drummer Paul Motian, with whom Nabatov recorded the „Circle The Line“ album back in 1985. Tony Malaby, a veteran of Motian’s band, brings that authentic experience to this flowing ballad.
Piano is featured in the first part of „Good Pedigree“, initially as a duo with bass, later joined by drums. The rest of the band eventually joins for a stretch of joyous interjections, before a calming glide towards a full stop.
The closing piece, „Afterwards“, starts with an intense collective improvisation, full of energy and exuberance, followed by Michael Formanek’s melodic and pensive solo.
The tune and the whole album come to a conclusion with Brandon Seabrook’s quirky solo over the repeated peaceful song-like phrases.
„Last Minute Theory“ offers a collection of original works celebrating the city that remains Simon Nabatov’s other musical home. Combining a straight-forward approach with intricate details, both joyful and melancholic, this album brings Nabatov’s diverse musical abilities into a new light offering a new perspective to this remarkable and prolific musician.
Brandon Seabrook and Simon Nabatov meet in the imaginary garden of sensual pleasures of music-making. With a sheer joy of the shared sensibilities, they traverse diverse landscapes, opulent and glowing, or brooding and suspenseful at times. Both are capable of quirky actions, often offset by the equally unexpected lyricism.
The exchange of scratchy stabs, melodic runs, entangled textures, luscious chords, dramatic outbursts or whispers of angelic voices - all of the elements find their place in the flowing yet coherent story-telling of this fabulous duo.
‘Live in Matsuyama’ is a result of circumstance. The performance was not intended as a recording, but occurrences arranged themselves to produce this fortuitous outcome. The rhythm section of pianist Simon Nabatov, bassist Takashi Seo and drummer Darren Moore were set to engage in a nine-city Japan tour with saxophonist Akira Sakata in early December 2019, but Sakata missed the first three shows due to unforeseen circumstances. ’Live in Matsuyama’ documents the third and final trio performance, which is marked by intuitive communication that wheels from state to state with restless motion. Nabatov, Seo and Moore move as if a single entity producing murmurations of sound; darting fluid formations that arise and dissipate with virtuosic agility.
1. One Down 19:15
2. Deliverance 10:55
3. Turbid Medium 05:23
Simon Nabatov - piano
Takashi Seo - bass
Darren Moore - drums
recorded at Monk Jazz Club, Matsuyama, Japan on December 3 2019
recorded by Toshihiro Toyoshima, Mitsuru Itani and Naofumi Sato
The second installment of the „Oldies but…“ series, this recording documents my first attempt to form my own band in the classical trio format. Fresh arrival in Germany, I was soon approached by a small label, interested to record my music. I wrote a bunch of tunes, half of which formed a suite of sorts, heard on this album. The rest became a solo CD for the same label, called „Locomotive“. The label disappeared as quickly as it was founded, but the music remained…
„Dancing On The Edge“ is the first of my albums on Bandcamp which fall into category „Oldies but…“, some audio documents which became „homeless“, for one reason or another. This solo recording was made in 1990. I am playing here the world tallest upright piano, designed and built by the German piano technician from Bonn called David Klavins. To promote this unique instrument, David organized many concerts in the Klavierhaus Klavins Bonn, the piano shop he ran together with his brother.
Additionally he founded a label, KM (Klavins Musik), solely dedicated to capturing the sound of his invention. A few dozens of recordings were made, featuring the giant piano in programs of classical, avant-garde, improvised and jazz music. I was quite fascinated by it’s qualities, and, asked by David to contribute to the growing catalogue, agreed immediately. I wrote all eight pieces for that session; some of them display the unusual qualities of the instrument, for instance the bass register - after all, the longest strings measure slightly over 3 meters! This made David come up with a special solution: the distance between the hammers and the strings was not the same across the keyboard, gradually increasing from upper to lower register. This posed a somewhat daunting task for the performers, since the applied touch had to be adjusted constantly. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the challenge quite a bit.
Beginning of 2017 I was invited to play several concerts on the 2nd International Festival of Improvised Music in Taiwan, taking place in November of that year. The album „Tunes I Still Play“ is a live recording from the gorgeous new National Taichung Theater, from the „Black Box“ to be exact (a smaller hall for chamber music). This release contains all 11 tunes I played that evening, so essentially it’s a double album. As the title suggests, I played some tunes I have been playing in solo concerts since two decades, if not longer. The program includes music of Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, Bill Evans, Brazilian songs, and my own. While I’ve been mostly performing more „adventuresome“ kinds of music, there is no way I wish to ever sever ties to the repertoire I grew up with, or picked up along the way. It’s good fun for me to see how, over the years, some essential elements of the interpretations stay, and others mutate, morph, disappear and generally behave in unpredictable ways - which is what improvising is about, I believe…
Nabatov's chamber music calls for a kind of string player only recently arrived, who is equally comfortable with complex scores and the challenges of improvising. These conditions are happily met by violist Gareth Lubbe and cellist Ben Davis, who participate brilliantly in Nabatov's compound vision - the dialectics of possibilities, the brace of the new in the embrace of the known. In a single piece, the trio moves from manic-chaotic through spiky school-of-Vienna pointillism to roller-coaster improvisation that thins out to something that might play blissfully in the background of an impossibly high-end Brazilian beach bar. Together Nabatov, Lubbe and Davis mark out fresh and delightful terrain, whether it's taut reverie, ecstatic turmoil or zones and conditions that resist any kind of naming.
New, harmonious, purple – this is how Tilman Herpichböhm describes his new record “The Loft Recordings”. The album was named after the recording location, the Loft in Cologne. The not quite ordinary line-up consisting of drums (Tilman Herpichböhm), piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer (Simon Nabatov), alto saxophone (Julian Bossert), alto saxophone (Johannes Ludwig) and double bass (Peter Christof) is appearing especially good in this unfolding free space. There, the alto saxophones can meet sonically, in order to completely alienate themselves again in the next moment – they are the figurehead of the band. Simon Nabatov is new to the crew, after joint concerts Tilman Herpichböhm wrote the pieces especially for him, making him part of Jilman Zilman. He brings a breath of fresh air to the band – together new and playful compositional and improvisational possibilities are explored. An energetic mixture of oriental-klezmeresque melodies and a virtuoso compositional simplicity that transports the insatiable pleasure of the musicians. Interplay is a requirement, not an option. A special musical sophistication is incorporated in the pieces from the Titaniac Suite “Pier / Pear”: the two pieces come from the live set and transport the audible live energy. The special feature is that in the middle of the bass solo a cut was made, which leads from the first concert evening (acoustic set) to the second concert evening (electric set). The combination of these two songs thus represents the transition that accompanies the listener from the acoustic to the electric version of the band. Tilman Herpichböhm gets his inspiration from everyday life. The idea for the song “Wiegenlied” came from a misguided music box, which a bank once gave his first daughter as a present. Everything he hears himself can influence his compositions. It does not matter where it comes from. The main goal is to cause a reaction. The music of Jilman Zilman should move – what exactly it moves, every individual has to find out by themselves.
Gratkowski and Nabatov crossed their musical paths over 30 years ago and maintained this mutually rewarding creative and personal connection ever since.
Having played together in most diverse settings imaginable, here they find themselves for the first time as a duo - arguably the most honest and intimate art form in music. Open and unforced by any agenda, with so much already shared and yet so many surprises ahead, they lead a conversation about things close and very distant.
Gratkowski and Nabatov are traveling along the lines of their own mythology, letting the listener participate in their absorbing storytelling.
After many years of navigating the tempestuous waters of free-improvised music, Simon Nabatov drops anew the anchor in the bay of written material, tunes, pre-determined dramaturgy and gestures — leaving plenty of room for suspense and surprise.
His new trio is a purely Cologne based venture and includes two of the brightest talents of its current scene the bassist Stefan Schönegg and the drummer Dominik Mahnig (who already appears on a couple of Leo Records releases). Every piece of this album tells a unique story, often choosing a specific route and vernacular to get to the core of the story unfolding.
Nebulous collective fluctuations get pierced by brutal invasions of well hidden Brazilian origins; a soulful groove disintegrates into a microtonally sliding dirge; a sunny song, seemingly maimed for good in the process, receives a glorious resurrection with a touch of Africa thrown in all of it, and much more, makes up the musical journey with the Simon Nabatov Trio.
Simon Nabatov / Mark Dresser / Dominik Mahnig - Equal Poise (2016)
Halfway through last year the album was released ‘Projections’ of Russia, in Germany, to dwell pianist Simon Nabatov and American bassist Mark Dresser. “Projections” was recorded on May 31, 2014 in the LOFT in Cologne and on the same day is also “Equal Poise ‘down which the two experienced jazz musicians assisted by the young Swiss drummer Dominik Mahnig.
Nabatov and Dresser are so experienced that the setting in which they did not play their instrument seems to matter. Adaptability is phenomenal, but both also press undeniably their own (way) mark on the musical event. Fortunately does Mahnig on this record: he is remarkably present and plays in the service of the harmony of the trio.
The title ‘Equal Poise “is well chosen: there is equilibrium between the three musicians and the music they produce. As in the liner notes to the album is expressed, there are no predictable solo spots, no ego trips, no discernible stylistic dogma, only make the pure joy of the music of three like-minded souls. The trio makes these words completely true, but it also leads to interesting music? Well, you bet.
Triplet can superficial listening jazz sometimes neat, even elegant sound like the piano sounds in the opening of Full Circles, but tension built up and discharged and there is room for disruption. The musical structure is not free but loose and the game view is as free as possible within this loose structure. Excesses come welcome moments and tackle invariably paid off.
The technical skills of these three musicians are, not surprisingly. Nabatov plays with apparently playful ease one after another sparkling piano tune, thereby laying a refined sense of melody to the day. The dynamics in his playing is matchless; he knows, always well placed, firm and recover percussive, but even in those passages he shows his melodic class.
Dresser shows just like in ‘Projections’ highly versatile and accommodating as well as oppositional. His warm, round tone alternates with capricious bass-game. Mahnigs drumming is inventive without being too flashy; he uses the capabilities of the full drum kit and he also uses some attributes, but it is not a musical box of tricks which he opens.
Five pieces Equal Poise “and knows all five shows the trio how resourceful it makes music, how well they listen to each other and give each other space, all in order to achieve the best possible sound together as a trio. Of course there are here and some brief solo and duospots but which are ultimately in the service of the common game. The interaction is truly fabulous and Equal Poise ‘after’ Projections’, and with many thanks to Mahnig, the second grandiose CD Nabatov and Dresser in a few months time.
