The Russian Jazz Quartet
The Russian Jazz Quartet was a modern jazz ensemble founded in 1964 by saxophonist/clarinetist Boris Midney and double bassist Igor Berukshtis, who made a break from their Soviet music hall orchestra on tour to defect to the United States via the American Embassy in Tokyo the same year.
The incident attracted much attention from the Soviet press at the time, as the pair were amongst the first musical artists to defect from the USSR in the 1960s.[citation needed] After requesting political asylum, the two men were flown to Copenhagen and then transferred to West Germany before moving to New York to pursue their careers in jazz. They teamed with Roger Kellaway on piano, George Ricci on cello/viola, and Grady Tate on drums to record their only studio album, Happiness (A(S)-80), which was released by the Impulse! label in 1965.
Material loss[]
The Russian Jazz Quartet was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[1]
References[]
- ^ Rosen, Jody (25 June 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=mvrpkvdz6m
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Russian-Jazz-Quartet-Happiness/release/885372
- ^ http://www.mos-time.ru/zim.in/02/en_chapter_02_1.html
- ^ http://dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/13768766
External links[]
- Russian Jazz Quartet "Happiness" LP at discogs.com
- Zimin at mos-time.ru
- Article archive "This Is Who Will Play in Their Jazz Band" by Tatyana Tess
- Boris Midney at borismidney.com
- Russian jazz ensembles
- Musical groups established in 1964