It’s difficult these days to find jazz artists who are able to keep with the jazz tradition but still keep it fresh with new ideas, balancing the tightrope walk of conservatism and cacophony. One ray of hope has been pianist/composer Misha Tsiganov, who has built up a catalogue of sounds familiar to the classic Blue Note years but with a fresh breeze of influences. The St. Petersburg-born Tisganov brings in a hip post-bopping team of Alex Sipiagin/tp-fh, Seamus Blake/ts, Boris Kozlov/b and Donald Edwards/dr for a collection of standards with clever new flavors as well as ebullient originals that reach the soul, with both the depth and complexity of a Dostoevsky novel.
As evidenced by his penetrating solo tune “Lost In Her Eyes”, Tsiganov has a touch influenced by Bill Evans’ romantic lyricism, melding classicism with modern harmonics. In a group setting, he can gallop with feisty McCoy Tyner’d modalisms as he rides a Russian folk melody over Edwards’ galloping pulse on the dark “There Was A Birch Tree In The Field, So What” and glides with warm digits on the sleek cadence of the grooved “Fire Horse”.
He shows creativity with prismatic interpretations of material, such as the oldie “Strike Up The Band”, where he mixes piano and Rhodes keyboards for a mix and match of meters, directions and colors, digging in deep, then pushing Blake’s tenor to leap over the crevice, whereas his take of Bill Evans’ “Comrade” is a sweet and succulent aperitif.
To a casual listener, the songs hit the heart and feet with perfect synchronicity, yet to the more penetrating ears, there is enough complexity and sophistication to require repeated takes to appreciate the layers of love. Any tours coming up to hear in person?