ALEX SIPIAGIN: Out of the circle

ALEX SIPIAGIN
Quando postei os álbuns do Adam Rogers e do Antonio Sanchez, comentei que os conheci por ocasião de um "show" do grupo do MICHAEL BRECKER, do qual eles faziam parte. Pois bem: outro componente daquele grupo que se apresentou no IRIDIUM de New York, em 2003 era este extraordinário trumpetista russo, ALEX SIPIAGIN.
----------
ALEX SIPIAGIN
Alex Sipiagin was born on June 11, 1967 in Yaroslavl, Russia. At 12 years of age, he began playing in a children's orchestra, studying under the great symphonic trumpeter and teacher, Mikhael Tsamaiev, his first inspiration. It was shortly after entering a local musical college at age 15 that Sipiagin was introduced to and inspired by what few and rare taped recordings were available in Russia of bebop and other jazz music. He knew he had to go to Moscow for a chance to learn more, and at 16 auditioned for the Moscow Music Institute, where he beat out 50 other students to get in. There he combined his classical studies with explorations into jazz. At 19
and after receiving his Baccalaureate, Sipiagin served the mandatory 2 years in the Russian army and then, upon release, continued his classical training and music studies at the Gnessin Conservatory in Moscow, earning tuition on pop gigs and recording sessions. In 1990, Alex won first place in a Russian young jazz players’ competition in Rostov City. That same year, with "Glasnost" in fully sway, he visited the United States for the first time, performing with a Russian student jazz band, Green Wave, when they were asked to headline the Corpus Christi Jazz Festival in Texas. He caught the attention and ears of many, and was invited to participate in the
International Louis Armstrong Competition sponsored by the Thelonius Monk Institute in Washington D.C. Other trumpeters competing were those who would later become today's prominent players such as Ryan Kaiser, Scott Wendtholt, Nicolas Payton, and others. Alex placed 4th in the competition, and was presented a Bach trumpet by the legendary Clark Terry, the trumpet which he still plays to this day. Following a challenging year, in 1991 Alex decided to pursue jazz to the next level and moved to New York City. He sat in on jam sessions until he snagged his first jazz gig in 1992, playing every Monday night at Sweet Basil with the Gil Evans Band
directed by Miles Evans. Then in 1993 he became a member of Gil Goldstein’s Zebra Coast Orchestra, which replaced the Gil Evan’s Band slot on Monday nights at Sweet Basil. In 1994, Sipiagin became a regular member of the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band while performing also with drummer Bob Moses’ band, Mozamba. Trumpeters Earl Gardner and Randy Brecker introduced Sipiagin to become a member of the Mingus Big Band in 1995, of which he is still a regular member, as well as the Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra. Since 2000, Dave Holland invited him to be a regular member of his big band and currently with his various small groups, and in 2003 he recorded with Michael Brecker’s Quindectet, which he has heavily toured with alongside Michael Brecker’s Sextet. Alex has also performed with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Aaron Neville and Elvis Costello, Michael Franks, Dave Sanborn, Deborah Cox,
legendary producer Phil Ramone, etc. and many of the recordings he has been involved in has won Grammy's. As a soloist, Sipiagin has 11 recordings out to his credit, mostly with Criss Cross Jazz, as well as ArtistShare and Sunnyside, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, Japan and Russia with his group. Today, Sipiagin lives in the North Fork of Long Island and continues to perform and tour with the Dave Holland groups, Mingus groups (and various others) as well as with his own solo projects worldwide.
(Source: all about jazz)
---------------
ALBUM REVIEW
Following a very strong run of albums with Criss Cross (peaking, perhaps, with "Equilibrium"), Russian born trumpet and flugelhorn player Alex Sipiagin strikes out in new directions with this his first major label output.Those earlier Criss Cross releases had produced lucid, inventive jazz in the tradition of Art Farmer ("The Company I Keep", "Silk Road") and Tom Harrell ("Visions", "Form", "Passages"). Now the Farmer / Harrell instrumentation has been replaced with a much more conscious attempt to reach a mainstream audience. The band - Monday Michiru (vocals), Scott Colley (bass), Antonio Sanchez (drums), Adam Rogers (guitar) Donny McCaslin (tenor and soprano saxes, flute), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Henry Hey (keyboards), Daniel Sadownick (percussion), Gil Goldstein (accordian) – is expanded beyond the scope of the earlier work. The most obvious change is the inclusion of two vocal tracks ("Afternoon Dreams" and "Sketches of Myself") on which Alex Sipiagin's wife, Monday Michiru, sings (and sings well). But it is interesting how far the move towards the mainstream is so easily evoked by the inclusion of accordian, synthesizer and increased emphasis on flute, trombone, acoustic guitar and congas. It is not quite Americana but it is something close on a track such as "Echoes Of Thought". The place of arrival is, perhaps, somewhere close to where Tom Harrell was aiming with "The Art Of Rhythm". Yet there is enough of the fundamental jazz of the Criss Cross years to carry the day as the soft-edged starts to many of these pieces evolve into music of greater complexity (as on "Echoes of Thought" and the long, elegiac title track) with Donny McCaslin and Alex Sipiagin himself outstanding.
--------------
MINHA OPINIÃO: fiquei impressionado quando vi Alex Sipiagin tocando ao vivo. O excelente trumpetista russo é técnicamente perfeito e expressa suas idéias através de uma sonoridade impecável, "redonda". O fraseado é estruturado principalmente sobre escalas de "be bop" - ainda que em sua maioria os arranjos de Alex possam ser classificados como "fusion", o que é muito natural: afinal este é o idioma preferido da sua geração e de seus companheiros mais constantes (Adam Rogers, Antonio Sanchez, Daniel Sadownick, Scott Colley, Gil Goldstein, Robin Eubanks - não por acaso, todos componentes do grupo de Michael Bracker.) Embora "fusion" não seja exatamente o estilo de jazz que mais aprecio, isso não interfere no meu julgamento: Alex Sipiagin é um dos grandes nomes do trumpete nos dias de hoje e este reconhecimento vem de seus pares: basta dar uma olhada no seu "curriculum" .
----------------------------
ALEX SIPIAGIN: Out of the circle

PERSONNEL::
Alex Sipiagin (trumpet/flugelhorn/piccolo trumpet; bass trumpet on "Sketches of Myself")
Donny McCaslin (tenor & soprano sax, flute)
Robin Eubanks (trombone)
Adam Rogers (guitars)
Henry Hey (keyboards)
Antonio Sanchez (drums)
Daniel Sadownick (percussions)
Scott Colley (bass)
Gil Goldstein (accordion)
Monday Michiru (vocals and programming)

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
Wind Dance
Afternoon Dreams
Echoes of Thought
Out of the Circle
Flash
Syn
Sketches of Myself