Eldar Djangirov

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Eldar Djangirov is a jazz pianist. He was born on 1987-01-28 in Kyrgyzstan (ex-Soviet Union) and then moved to Kansas, USA. Eldar attended St. Elizabeth's grade school in Kansas City, Missouri. He began playing the piano when he was 3 years old. His debut album Eldar was released by Sony Classical in March 2005. He now attends University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. His latest album "Live At The Blue Note" was also released by Sony Classical on 2006-05-30. He is best known for his technique and musicality. Jazz people call him "a mixture of Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum and Chick Corea".^{[citation needed]}

His Russian parents taught him to play the piano in their native Kyrgyzstan. The first thing he remembers learning was "C Jam Blues," when he was 3. He later took classical lessons and was "discovered" at age 9 by the late New York City jazz aficionado Charles McWhorter, who saw him play at a festival in Siberia.

The family moved to Kansas City, drawn there in large part by the city's jazz history. During his Kansas City years, even before reaching his teens, Eldar already started building a reputation as a true child prodigy, appearing on Marian McPartland's award-winning NPR show, "Piano Jazz", when he was only 12 years old, the youngest performer to ever appear on her show. Eventually, the family moved to San Diego where he attended the Francis W. Parker School, and then to the Los Angeles area where he now resides.

[edit] External links

eldarjazz.com - Official site
Allmusic.com bio
Capital Jazzfest bio
NPR story - featuring performances
JazzPolice.com Review: Eldar Live at the Blue Note
Kennedy Center Eldar playing at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage at the age of 14.