Postcard from Bishkek

Website of the Public Fund "Central Asia - Arts Management" (CAAM), organizers of the Jazz Autumn 2011 Festival

I remember going for a walk through the city centre back  on my first visit to Kyrgyzstan, (back in 1994 – when I came here for a two week holiday), and walking past the Opera and Ballet Theatre hearing one of the singers practising her scales.  My friend, Tony, who was with me and had already been bitten by the “Kyrgyzstan Bug”, turned and said, “See, it’s not the back of beyond, they even Opera and Ballet here … and they’re not bad!”

At that point I hadn’t yet caught the Kyrgyzstan Bug, (the infectious affection that the place instils in many visitors for the landscape, wild life, history and culture), and had yet to be convinced.  Now, however, I have to admit that the cultural life in Bishkek is often full of surprises … and it is those surprises that helps to foster in, both, visitors and ex-pats like myself a lasting endearment to the place.

Another one of those surprises landed in my Inbox last week – a message about an event to be held tonight called “Jazz Autumn“.

I have written before about Jazz Festivals held here in Bishkek.  They strike me as an example of what I often say, that “in Kyrgyzstan there is something for everyone.”  We not only have a wide variety of restaurants and different forms of entertainment … including Opera, Ballet, Classical Music, Disco, Rock, Pop, Rap, Traditional Folk Music representing a wide variety of ethnicities … and, of course, Jazz.  The biggest problem is, however, that unless you know where to look, many events pass under the Radar.  Therefore, I was very pleased to be be given at least a week’s notice of this event.

It’s being organized by the Public Fund “Central Asia Arts Management”, (CAAM), who have organized three previous festivals – in Spring 2007 and 2009 and in Autumn last year.  The event is also being supported by the American Embassy as part of the “Rhythm Road” program, (run by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, which aims to introduce American music to different communities around the world and promoting cultural exchange and understanding between peoples), and the Christensen Fund.

The main event will be a concert in that same Theatre of Opera and Ballet tonight.  The “main attraction” will be a performance by the group “Paul Beaudry and Pathways” from the USA, but they will be supported by two local Jazz groups: “Vikram Ruzahunova” and “Salted Peanuts”, (both of which have performed at previous Jazz Festivals in Bishkek),

Paul Beaudry and Pathways were formed in 2008 and has four talented and experienced members: Paul Beaudry himself, (a guitarist, composer, producer, singer and teacher who is originally from San Francisco, but now lives in New York where he teaches at Columbia University); Tim Armak, (from Los Angeles but who also currently lives in New York, who plays the clarinet, saxophone and flute as well as being a singer); Tony Jefferson, (a drummer from New York who also occasionally sings);  and Bennett Paster, (who grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but currently lives in New York, and plays the piano and other keyboard instruments).  Last year the band released their first album and toured Latin America.  They also have their own page on MySpace, so it is possible to get a feel for their music.  They will be performing some of their own compositions as well as arrangements of other pieces.