EN / RU

Running time:
80 minutes, no break
6+
20 October 2021 Wednesday 19.00 Chamber hall
19.00 Chamber hall

Kruglov-Sooäär Quartet (Russia / Estonia)

Alexey Kruglov, saxophones, wind instruments, voice
Jaak Sooäär, guitar, electronics
Michkel Malgand, double bass, bass guitar
Tanel Ruben, drums
Featuring special guest Karina Nesmeyanova, dance

“Many a glorious deeds was done by this team of friends. The only thing that the jazzmen need to interact with each other despite all borders and politics deserves respect. And each of any their project is an unusual thing”.
© Jazzmap.ru

Estonian-Russian band Alexey Kruglov – Jaak Sooäär Quartet was based in 2010. Musicans well known in their native countries form the Quartet.

They are:
Alexey Kruglov is a Russian reedist, director, composer, poet, actor, founder of “Krugly Band”, the promoter of Leo Records Festival in Russia, and one of the leaders of the Russian performative scene. “The future of jazz”, British “Jazzwise” once dubbed him.

Estonian Jaak Sooäär is guitarist, composer, professor, a founder of the Estonian Jazz federation. One of the leading musicians of the Baltic States.

Michkel Malgand is a double bass player. In 2019, he was named as the best Estonian musician.

Tanel Ruben is a drummer, composer, emblematic Estonian musician, an active collaborator of few European projects.

The band’s creative output is versatile. The band has already released 4 albums while Alexey with Jaak recorded several CDs with other musicians outside the band. The Quartet performs at festivals in Russia and Estonia, tours USA, Germany, Finland, and China. In 2012, Jazzthetik magazine poll named the album “Sea Colours” (Solyd Records) “Discovery of the Year”, while “The Mighty Five” was 2nd “Album of the Year” according to British AP Reviews в 2015. InRock put “Tchaikovsky” on the 3rd place in “Best 2020 Albums”, the same year Alexey has become the laureate of the Prize of People’s Diplomacy of Estonian Foreign Ministry.

As a duo, Alexey and Jaak participate in various music projects: Leo Records International Tour (2011), 30th anniversary of “Baltic Way/Baltic Chain”, performance “Letters to my Brother”, devoted to 200 years of the birth of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. During the International Jazz Day, the musicians played over the River Narva right at the Russian-Estonian border within the frameworks of the programme “Music without Borders”.

At Zaryadye, the band plays songs from virtually all its albums. The setlist features Tchaikovsky pieces arranged as jazz (from the “Tchaikovsky” LP), music of “The Mighty Five” (from “The Mighty Five” LP), 20th century composers, “Nostalgia” by Alexey Kozlov (from “Arsenal” LP), and some original compositions of the leaders of the Quartet. The guest of the show is actress and the “Krugly Band” performer, Europe Wushu champion Karina Nesmeyanova, who will join the band onstage for “Flight of the Bumblebee” dance-jazz improvisation.