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It's been really,
really fantastic!
I love to see
a mixture of different kinds of architecture
from different periods
it is very
interesting
for me to see that and also
the people
are very warm and open...
It's very different from
the impression
that many Americans had of Russians many years ago.
There was some kind of a distance
and it doesn't seem to be like that anymore
I think this has disappeared...
Q: How did you become interested in jazz?
I became interested in jazz when I was 14 years old
I had been playing classical music actually from the time I was seven,
but in high school
I saw a young pianist
who was in my class
performing
at a student variety show
and he had a jazz trio.
He could do something on my instrument
that I couldn't do
and I liked the beat, too.
So I began asking him about it and this was the very beginning
Q: As you may be aware, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was just in town.
What was it like performing with the Orchestra as a youngster?
Oh, yes, I was really young,
I was eleven years old
when I was with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
I was wearing short pants
and I was
very short,
may be this tall
and the orchestra played some pieces first
at the Symphony Center
which used to be called Orchestra Hall
in Chicago.
The center of the stage,
actually, has a...
there's an elevator
and so after the orchestra played some pieces
the elevator comes down,
and when the elevator came back up, there's this big 9 ft. concert grand piano
and then there's this little guy
comes walking through the orchestra, that was me
to play...
I was very nervous at the time
but I signed my first autograph...
There was a little girl that asked for my autograph...
So I think, I liked it...
Q: Which musicians have influenced you most?
I should say that many musicians have influenced me,
but in general
the biggest influence was Miles Davis
Q: What you think of the music young people listen to today?
Some of it I like and some of it I don't,
as with anyone
I'm
always happy to see young
people creating
new music, new culture,
new approaches to expression
And if you take, say
Kanye West - is very different from Lady Gaga...
And yes, many artists
very often collaborate.
For example,
Jay-Z did something
with Alicia Keys.
It's nice to see the
artists come together
to create something
that combines
the genres that each of them...
or combines the ideas that each of them has to offer
Thank you so much!
Thank you!