Moscow Jazz School of the 1950s and 1960s: leading soloists and collectives

Овчинников П.Л., Зайцева М.Л.

doi:10.7256/2453-613X.2023.2.40897

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PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal

Reference:

Ovchinnikov, P., Zaitseva, M.L. (2023). Moscow Jazz School of the 1950s and 1960s: leading soloists and collectives. PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal, 2, 51–60. https://doi.org/10.7256/2453-613X.2023.2.40897

Moscow Jazz School of the 1950s and 1960s: leading soloists and collectives

Ovchinnikov Pavel

ORCID: 0000-0003-3334-0856

Associate Professor at the Department of Pop and Jazz Music, Kosygin State University of Russia

117997, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Sadovnicheskaya str., 33

silversoniq@gmail.com

Other publications by this author

Zaitseva Marina Leonidovna

ORCID: 0000-0001-6255-500X

Doctor of Art History

Professor of Department of Solo Singing and Choral Conducting Kosygin State University of Russia

33 Sadovnicheskaya str., Moscow, 117997, Russia

marinaz1305@mail.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2453-613X.2023.2.40897

EDN:

HLUGJC

Received:

31-05-2023

Published:

07-06-2023

Abstract: The subject of the study is the creativity of the leaders of the Moscow jazz school of the 1950s and 1960s: the variety orchestra at the Moscow State Orchestra under the direction of E. Rosner, the jazz orchestra of the Central Chamber of Artists Yu. The Saul Variety Orchestra conducted by O. Lundstrom. The article summarizes the results of the study of the domestic jazz art of the 1950s and 1960s, substantiates the trend in the development of instrumental jazz, and characterizes the repertoire policy of Moscow jazz ensembles. The hypothesis of the influence on the development of the national jazz art of the 1950s and 1960s of those innovations that were formed in American and European jazz of the 1940s and 1950s is substantiated. The characteristics of the performing styles of the leading metropolitan soloists and collectives are given, their role in the development of the Moscow jazz school is determined. The scientific novelty lies in the analysis of the performing styles of the leading Moscow jazz soloists and ensembles of the 1970s and 1980s, which allowed us to substantiate the hypothesis of the influence on the domestic jazz art of trends formed in American and European jazz of the 1940s and 1950s. They are based on the principle of dominance of small groups of participants, the desire to improve technical and expressive capabilities all instruments of the ensemble, based on the use of the artistic potential of the solo parts. The peculiarity of the Moscow jazz ensembles, which along with Leningrad and Baltic ensembles were the flagships of the national jazz art of the 1970s and 1980s, was the strengthening of experimental orientation in the field of expanding the timbre palette of ensemble sound through the use of electronic instruments and sonoristics techniques. The tendency of advancing the timbre-coloristic aspect of musical sound to the forefront of creative searches brings the sphere of jazz and academic art of the second half of the XX century closer.

Keywords:

Eddie Rosner, Yuri Saulsky, Oleg Lundstrem, Soviet jazz, Moscow jazz school, modern jazz, jazz orchestra, jazz composer, Alexey Kozlov, Aleksander Tsfasman
This article is automatically translated. You can find original text of the article here.

The Moscow jazz school in the period of the 1950s and 1960s is characterized by the strengthening of the experimental beginning, the accentuation of the expressive possibilities of solo parts, searches in the field of timbre coloristics. These trends will be in demand in the practice of the development of jazz and academic art of the XX–XXI centuries ^{[5, p. 175]}.

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To the journal "PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal" the author presented his article "The Moscow Jazz School of the 1950s and 1960s: leading soloists and collectives", in which the author attempted to study the Soviet musical art of the specified period. The author proceeds in the study of this issue from the fact that the Moscow jazz school in the period of the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by an intensification of the experimental principle, an emphasis on the expressive possibilities of solo parts, and searches in the field of timbre coloristics. Unfortunately, the article lacks a theoretical scientific component, which should contain material on the relevance, scientific novelty of the study, information on the scientific validity of the problem. The bibliographic analysis was also not carried out by the author. The text of the article is mainly a description of the development of jazz art in the Soviet Union. The methodological basis of the study was an integrated approach containing historical, socio-cultural, comparative and artistic analysis. The author points out the direct dependence of the development of jazz art in the country during this period on socio-political factors: during the "thaw" jazz demonstrates its ability to adapt to changes in the socio-cultural context. As the author notes, "thaw" emphasized the ideas of freedom, human emancipation, which became the impetus for the development of Soviet jazz. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, radio broadcasts and musical literature appeared. The author notes that despite the interest of Soviet jazz performers in foreign jazz music and performers, they managed to develop a unique style characterized by the absence of a protest beginning and the adoption of Russian classical literature (F.M. Dostoevsky) as a philosophical justification for music. The author defines 1957 as a breakthrough year for the development of jazz art in the Soviet Union, since the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Moscow that year, and musicians had the opportunity to communicate and exchange experiences with foreign performers. Analyzing the development of the jazz genre in the second half of the twentieth century, the author observes an increasing trend of creative interaction between soloists, an increase in solo episodes in ensemble sound, and improvisational emancipation of musicians. The result of the activation of these trends is the predominance of small jazz ensembles (in Moscow – orchestras of L. Olakh, M. Frumkin, S. Samoilov), where a large number of musicians have the opportunity to solo and develop their performance technique. The author considers the initiative of the Moscow Philharmonic to combine tour and festival schedules, which later spread to other Russian cities (Riga, Novosibirsk, Kuibyshev, Saratov, etc.), to be an important factor in popularizing jazz among Soviet listeners. This initiative has become not only an effective means of attracting listeners and an effective means of popularizing jazz, but also a powerful economic support for creative projects. The author pays special attention to the study of the formation and development of the "third current", combining the traditions of academic art with the techniques of pop music and jazz. The author discovers the origins of this phenomenon in the European and American musical art of the first half of the 20th century. The multiplicity of episodes of the introduction of elements of jazz stylistics into the works of the authors of the academic school of composition becomes a marker of the popularity of jazz not only among the public, but also within the musical environment, as evidenced by the method of introduction to an ensemble consisting of musicians with a conservative education, a rhythm group that creates the effect of "rhythmization of classics", enhanced articulation of metrorhythmic drawings. In conclusion, the author presents a conclusion on the conducted research, which contains all the key provisions of the presented material. It seems that the author in his material touched upon relevant and interesting issues for modern socio-humanitarian knowledge, choosing a topic for analysis, consideration of which in scientific research discourse will entail certain changes in the established approaches and directions of analysis of the problem addressed in the presented article. The results obtained allow us to assert that the study of the mutual influence of art and sociocultural transformations taking place in society is of undoubted theoretical and practical cultural interest and can serve as a source of further research. The material presented in the work has a clear, logically structured structure that contributes to a more complete assimilation of the material. An adequate choice of methodological base also contributes to this. The bibliographic list of the research consists of 21 sources, including foreign ones, which seems sufficient for generalization and analysis of scientific discourse on the studied problem. Nevertheless, the author obtained certain scientific results that allowed him to summarize the material. It should be stated that the article may be of interest to readers and deserves to be published in a reputable scientific publication after the above shortcomings have been eliminated.

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Moscow Jazz School of the 1950s and 1960s: leading soloists and collectives