RUSSIA’S JAZZ PIONEER GEORGY GARANIAN LIVED GOOD LIFE WITHOUT ANY WARS
PRAVDA
Jan 13 2010
Russia
A famous musician and a People’s Artist of Russia passed away at age
75. According to his widow, Nelly Zakirova, Garanian suffered a heart
attack on January 11, 2010, at 11 am.
It happened in Krasnodar, Russia, where the musician was scheduled to
conduct the Krasnodar Municipal Big Band during two planned concerts
on January 15 and 16 with a famous French soloist Michel Legrand.
People of all generations used to come to Georgy Garanian ‘s concerts,
including older generations and those who only began to discover the
wonderful genre of jazz. They learned about Georgy Garanian from their
parents who still have vinyl records of Melodia band and bring them
to concerts to get an autograph of the living legend.
Yuri Saulsky, one of the patriarchs of Russian jazz and the president
of the Moscow Jazz Agency shared his thoughts: "Creative career of one
of the most famous Soviet jazz musicians Georgy Garanian was shaping
up before my eyes. He is a brilliant representative of mainstream
who largely affected this concept in Russian jazz music. Garanian is
a saxophonist , composer, arranger, and a director who was greatly
skilled in all these professions. He is without a doubt one of the
most important personas of the contemporary Russian jazz."
He paid a great deal of attention to educating others about jazz. He
was the author and host of a radio program Jazz Club of Georgy Garanian
and the host of TV program Jam-5.
He was a laureate of many international jazz festivals in Prague,
Bombay, Havana, Warsaw, Finland and Israel. He was a member of the
Russian Alliance of Composers since 1975 and a member of the Russian
Alliance of Moviemakers since 1996 and a member of the Movie Academy
Nika, as well as a Companion of Honor (1999).
He was the first Russian jazz musician to be named a Distinguished
Artist (1981) and a People’s Artist of Russia (1992). Regular sell
outs in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory made him the first
jazz musician to receive the State Prize of Russia.
Yet, all his titles and fans did not make him change. Garanian remained
a very modest person.
He used to say that good jazz musicians in Russia lived a good life.
He said that jazz in Russia was popular and concert halls were always
packed with fans. He mentioned that many of his American friends who
were great musicians had to work day jobs to be able to play jazz
at night. He considered himself lucky being able to make money doing
something he loved.
Garanian was calm and wise. He was not only a musician and a teacher,
but also a real peacemaker. He was raised in a Russian-Armenian
family and absorbed both cultures, therefore he always called for
peace between conflicting nations.
"I think that conflicts between nations are a sign of contemporary
times. It was not like this before . I had two Azerbaijanis working in
my band . Look at my family . My wife, Nelly Zakirova, is a Muslim,
I am a Christian, and we never have "religious wars." We are both
spiritual people and respect each other. I can also add that my step
daughter took my last name and wrote "Armenian" in the nationality
field. By the way, I have three daughters. The eldest Natalia is a
psychologist, Karina lives in the USA, she is a computer designer,
and Veronica is a journalist, she works in France. She graduated from
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and works in TV. My wife Nelly is
a journalist and I can see her reports on TV," Garanian said.
Garanian thought his textbook on orchestration written in the 1970s
to be his greatest educational achievement. The book is still used
by students of Russian music schools and Institutes.