Trigon (jazz)
Trigon is the name of a folk-jazz band from Moldova.
The group was created in Chişinău in 1992 and debuted at the Chişinău Jazz Festival in 1993. It originally consisted of the band leader Anatol Ştefăneţ (viola), Sergiu Testemiţeanu (bass-guitar) and Oleg Baltaga (drums).
Anatol Ştefăneţ born into a traditional lăutari family is known for his virtuoso viola skills, especially its Moldovan traditional version, the "bratsch". His solos are featured on several other albums and projects, including the "Black Sea Orchestra" and the "Lăutari".
Trigon released their first CD "Moldavian Wedding in Jazz" in France (SILEX) and immediately received the French music award "Grand Prix du Disc". Their second album, "Oglinda" was released in Germany (Jaro). During 1996-1999 the group toured Europe and the ex-USSR countries extensively always to a critical acclaim.
Their highly acclaimed concert in Germany took place in April 1998 at the "Hamburg Jazz Festival" in the cities famous cultural center "Fabrik". Since then they have performed frequently in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Moldova and Russia.
2000 saw the release of their 3-d album, "Free Gone" (Boheme Music, Russia) with Alexander Murzak substituting for Testimatsanu. Trigon recorded their 4-th CD, "The voice of my earth" (Green records, Romania) in 2001.
The latest incarnation of the band includes Anatol Ştefăneţ (alt), Dorel Burlacu (keyboards), Valentin Boghean (sax) and Garri Tverdohleb (percussion).
"Trigon's style encompasses elements of folk, jazz, rock and symphonic music. Brilliant improvisations and a keen understanding of musical forms characterize their jazz compositions. Trigon is undoubtedly a phenomenon in modern jazz music in its highest intellectual expression." (L.Osipova, Vice-president of the Russian Composers Union)