Many people only ever associate jazz music with certain Black communities in the USA but there have actually been some impressive albums created outside of New Orleans or New York’s 52nd Street. Soviet jazz music is a fine example. The USSR was behind the Iron Curtain, kept away from overseas culture, and Soviet musicians could catch only glimpses of the true American sound.
So, they had to play jazz based on their own rhythm and often mixed it with national music traditions. Here are my eight highlights of 1970s Soviet jazz music:
David Goloshekin’s Leningrad instrumental band (1972)
Goloshekin’s first work is a great place to start. You’ll hear a cool blend of easy listening and Bossa nova mixed with vivid, Duke Ellington-style piano. There are no sharp or heavy big band tunes — just a lyrical mood.
In “Old Lane” and “Midnight summer garden” samples you’ll find harpsichord passages. They visualize pictures from Petersburg of the XIX century with its cute river boats and refined palaces.
“Autumn” is the most ambient track here. Elvira Trafova, the Soviet female jazz vocalist, sang this piece with her unique velvet voice, accompanied by mystic flute and hoarse sax, turning the piece into a surrealistic dream of a French village with a gothic church and paved road covered with golden leaves.
2. Joseph Vainstein and his Jazz Orchestra (1973)
In the 1960s, Joseph Vainstein’s orchestra was the most popular among the Leningrad hipsters. Vainstein adored swing music and the American jazz musicians called him the Soviet Benny Goodman. From 1959 onwards, the band usually played the famous jazz tunes from the Big Band era. When the group kicked out the “Saint-Louis Blues” or the Great Duke’s “Satin Doll”, all the fans went bananas!
The 1973 record is the hottest one. Heavy brass passages, crashing drums and a vibrant atmosphere – this album really rocks to the bones. Listen carefully to the groovy rhythm of “Night in Africa”; with every drum beat, you’ll find yourself under the starry savannah sky.
“Love story” is the coolest piece here. Francis Lai wrote the tune in 1970 as a film soundtrack but, with the Vainstein’s orchestra, it shone in a new splendor. In 1973, the tune became so bluesy that it really pictured the passion and tragedy of Oliver and Jennifer’s romance.
3. Oleg Lundstrem’s Variety Orchestra (1973)
Oleg Lundstrem was one of the Soviet jazz pioneers. He put together the first orchestra far in 1934 and stayed with the band until his death in October of 2005.
Both swing and Duke Ellington’s music inspired him from a young age. Forty years later, Oleg Lundstrem released the biggest record of his career. The brainy composer brewed a deep bass and mushy swing with spiritual folk psychedelia.
The whole album is worth buying for a home vinyl collection. If you don’t like the big band music, slow down on a “Georgian Mountains” tune. Sink in its enigmatic rhythm and find yourself in a lost mountain village where people stargaze from the snowy peaks and look deep into your soul.
4. Melodia Ensemble – Labyrinth (1974)
This band came out in 1973 as a studio outfit. The orchestra played trendy swing music and worked with variety stars like Anna German or Vladimir Vysotsky. Nobody expected them to create the dizziest cocktail of Coltrane’s jazz, funk and hard rock riffs.
Their debut record sounds like a fantastic film soundtrack. Each of the four long pieces has an atmosphere unique to them. When I hear the title track, I feel myself traveling to another world. The smashing intro, along with the heavy fuzzing riff and cryptic synthesizers drive me to a remote planet with sparkling seas, golden sky and visionary mountains.
Lenkoran is a wild and groovy tune with Caucasian folk and the Manfred Mann’s keyboards. This music makes me lose myself in a fancy Azerbaijan town with oriental markets and vintage cars.
This amazing album was a big hit in 1974. Nobody in the USSR dared to play badass rock onstage so the “Labyrinth” became an earth-shaking fusion debut.
5. Ganelin’s Trio – Con Anima (1976)
Recorded in 1976, this album showed a brand new direction for Soviet jazz music. Con Anima wasn’t just the first free jazz vinyl made in socialist Latvia, it became a daring attempt to mix 1950s bebop with dark and trippy cinema sound.
The first time I heard “Con Anima” was in October 2017. The trio was playing their “Jazz Contrasts” – a 40-minute piece of music that really rocked me that evening as they drew a surrealist picture.
But the final part shook me most of all. This music seemed to be the coolest horror soundtrack. It made me imagine terrible, post-apocalyptic scenes of half-dead people wandering around their ruined houses.
6. Oleg Lundstrem’s Jazz Orchestra – In Memory of Duke Ellington (1977)
When I heard the Lundstrem’s “Caravan” cover, the track just carried me away. After that, the original – Juan Tizol’s version – sounded to me like a pretty soundtrack for Aladdin.
Jefferson Airplane fans would be happy with the 1977 version of Caravan. It had changed from the simple 1930s swing tune into an eight-minute spiritual euphoria. Every time I listen to the track, it sounds to me like a trip through a mysterious desert. I see the lucent Persian town with its fancy minarets touching the steely heavens. I stroll across the golden sands to hear the smooth saxophones, plashing drums and hypnotic bass section.
The rest of the album is a solid Dukish sound. But the Orchestra made the tunes with their own vision of the Great Duke’s music. Hold your breath while listening to the “A Train” shrilly trumpets. Lose yourself in the bluesy psychedelia of “Sentimental Mood” and I’m sure that you’ll catch an insight into Soviet jazz.
7. Egil’s Straume Jazz Combo – Fiesta (1978)
Since the 1960s, the Soviet Baltics have become a cradle of the most creative jazz bands. The young Latvian band leader Egil Straume was no exception. The composer went crazy for the folk, chamber and avant-garde jazz music so he was keen to mix his favorite music genres.
The “Fiesta” vinyl is a smashing musical kaleidoscope with its fast-paced mood – from the wild gypsy dances of “Extraversion” to the in-depth meditation of the “Coral”.
It’s amazing how the combo did the title track. While putting together the passionate piece, the combo recaptured a bright, Spanish atmosphere. The raw trumpet sound provokes memories of a street party and the castanets cracks lead me to a seaside town where the air smells of salty water.
8. Igor Bril’s Jazz Ensemble – The Earth’s Morning (1979)
This cool and lazy fusion album is the perfect way to finish the decade. Bril’s piano flows like an idle river and his band doesn’t lose its chill-out rhythm, making the music hypnotic. Even the tunes like “An Endless Street” or “The Balkan Ornament” seem to be somnambular instead of being hot and groovy.
The real chill-out atmosphere is in the title track. It is a long journey across the world of fantasy with fairy flowers, magic aromas and smooth melodies.
Image credit: Anton H