Jazz is an elite art. Its language and expressive means are inherently sophisticated. It belongs to a serious creative realm. Here one finds masters whose skill satisfies the most demanding professional critics while also enjoyed by larger audiences. Jazz guitarist Enver Izmailov of the Crimea is one such artist. A Crimean Tatar, he spent his childhood and youth in Uzbekistan, to where Stalin exiled the entire Tatar populace of the peninsula. He received a music education in Fergana, specializing in an Uzbek folk stringed instrument called rubab . But the guitar was his sole obsession and he had talent, eventually becoming a virtuoso. He lives in Simferopol and works for the Tatar Academic Music Drama Theater where the cast includes Tatars, Ukrainians, Jews, and Russians. The company has a symphony orchestra, Tatar folk performing groups, and a jazz trio led by Enver Izmailov (including Narket Ramazanov, an excellent flutist and saxophonist, and Rustem Bari, an equal match with his percussions).
Both with the jazz trio and as a solo performer, Enver Izmailov has toured half the world, playing under contracts 3-4 times a year. He has performed in many countries (but not in Spain, the guitar’s homeland, although he hopes to get there, too). He toured Brazil recently with a concert program and wrote music for a film on the topic of saving the Amazon forest. He is considering the possibility of linking the Brazilian project to other pressing problems, such as saving the Black Sea environment. Talking to this open-hearted, friendly, and handsome man, one understands why everything he does on stage and in his daily life is admired by others. He puts his heart, lifelong wisdom, high culture, and broad professional outlook in his music. The music is sometimes very sophisticated, demanding keen perception, but mostly quite open, light, and simple (simplicity in this case being the highest degree of mastery). It is colored by the rich Oriental heritage of tunes and Western rhythms, complemented by techniques borrowed from leading world jazz musicians. Among his favorite guitarists are Ela di Miola, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, and Ritchie Blackmore. His improvisations are closely intertwined Oriental tunes with his native Tatar overtones and jazz rhythms. This combination sounds most natural and simple. Others can learn quite a few things from him. Now and then he is invited to teach at foreign higher schools (e.g., Jean Sibelius Music Academy in Finland, 1991; master classes at the Moldovan Conservatory of Music in 2001). He is a laureate of numerous domestic and foreign jazz festivals; he was among the first national jazzmen to be conferred the prestigious title “Merited Artist of Ukraine.” In 1995, critics acknowledged him as the Musician of the Year. Yet the man is utterly immune to stardom, remaining his true open and profoundly cultured self in all situations.
His original style of playing using all ten fingers is different from the tapping technique sometimes used in the West. His virtuosity is just a means of expressing his sparkling friendly music. In December, he appeared in the New Melodies of Christmas Night concert at the National Opera and immediately conquered the audience that was not quite ready for jazz music. His version of the popular Ukrainian song “I’m so Cute and Dark” with a throbbing jazz-rock-folk rhythm, using ten fingers, left the listeners enchanted. He has a special way with his audiences, buddy-buddy, always with some jokes (like planting one on his jaw at the end of an improvisation).
Enver Izmailov has two daughters; Gulmira (Tatar for “Flower of the World”) and Lenie, a young gifted jazz singer.
Kyiv’s Jazz Theater, music agency in collaboration with the General Directorate for Services to Foreign Representations, organized a concert at the House of Officers, February 23, starring Enver Izmailov and his daughter Lenie, with Narket Ramazanov (sax, flute), Nariman Umerov (accordion), Rustem Nalbandov and Rustem Bari (percussions), and Lenora Osmanova (dancing). The concert was titled Sherefe!, meaning “Be Healthy!”
