Comments on: eldar Related Knowledgebase

By: Kumar

Kumar — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:59:18 +0000

Very rich, with jagged, dark edges. Have listened many times and am continuing to discover.

I was predisposed to ‘Insensitive’ — I’d heard him perform it live before the album came out, and it stuck with me for hours after the concert. What a gem. (Tho I just noticed the coda to Insensitive is kissing cousins to the coda of The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”.)

This album is not going to be for everyone. I can say for myself that it’s one of my favorites. Highly recommended, and catch him live if he comes to your area.

By: Lugo

Lugo — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:20:24 +0000

Eldar is on his game on this one. If you like driving at night jazz you’ll love this collection. If you like Eldar this will blow your mind. His skills and his music comes to a perfect balance on Virtue. The order of the selections flows from number to each wonderful number at the perfect pace. A must for all Jazz and Eldar fans.

By: Erving

Erving — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:21:31 +0000

Yes, he’s young. Yes, he’s fast. But why does he have to live up to Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson right out of the gate?
He’s 19 years old!
Is he a bit gratuitous with the flourishes?…. sometimes….. but I chalk that up to youthful exhuberance.:)
If I could play runs like that, I’d sure want someone to ‘know’ it!
And no one can deny Eldar’s technical prowess, which, at 19 years old, is mastery far beyond his years.
If anyone complains about his ‘lack of soul’, I have to ask, ‘how much soul did ‘you’ have when you were 19??’
Eldar’s soul is not yet at the depth of Art or Oscar, or Dorothy Donegan,who I ‘love’, but his soul is definitely a whole lot deeper than any ‘other’ 19 year old I’ve heard lately. If you really ‘listen’, you can hear little previews of what is to come from this artist…. fire, introspection, intelligence, humor (I smile everytime I hear his little fills on ‘Moanin’)….
And when he’s 25, he’ll sound different from his sound today.
When he’s 45 he will have had much more ‘life experience’; joy, happiness, sadness, heartbreak; experiences that will transform his soul like a fine aged wine. If Eldar can ‘manage’ his success, his future is to the moon.
But right now??… the kid is ‘scary’ he’s so good!

By: Sleigh

Sleigh — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:46:25 +0000

I am not sure where the reviewer who was a bit negative is coming from, although certainly entitled to his opinion. The comparisons he makes however, fall short. Comparing Eldar with Joey DeFrancesco or Chick’s Electric Band is not valid, because the entities are different and serve a different musical purpose. The kid has it all, and I mean “all”. The reveiwer must not understand the piano very well near as I can figure. I have not heard anyone get a “sound” like Eldar does really since Bill Evans, or Oscar Peterson, whom I have heard live 4 times.
Most of the folks I know who gripe about someone having “too much chops”, normally don’t have too much chops. Oscar took heat for that, too, mainly by people who didn’t get it. I am going to go hear Eldar again as soon as I possibly can. Fantastic!!

By: Nobles

Nobles — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:56:35 +0000

I feel I have to come to the defense of the reviewer who expressed reservations about the lack of emotion in Eldar’s performances here, because I have to admit that I was struck by the very same thing. Eldar’s technique always dazzles me, but his playing rarely moves me. Speaking from a strictly technical standpoint, he can probably play rings around just about anyone else: it would be almost inconceivable to imagine him ever hitting a wrong note. But there is an unsatisfying lack of passion in his playing, a little too much “Gee whiz, look, Ma, no hands!” bravado, but nowhere near enough soul.

Which is not to say I don’t enjoy this recording on its own terms – I did buy it and don’t regret the purchase, and even if he doesn’t quite hit the right chords on an emotional level, Eldar’s virtuosity is not without its charm. It will be interesting to hear him some years from now, perhaps, when he’s accumulated a little more life experience. Until then, I can think of a dozen other pianists whose work, while perhaps not nearly as technically accomplished as Eldar’s, is, for me, far more satisfying.

By: Foley

Foley — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:20:25 +0000

For the 1 reviewer out of 25 who was hypercritical of Eldar’s performances as lacking “soul”, either the rest of us are crazy or he should rethink his position. I’ve been a professional pianist for about 32 years and I have never heard anyone master the piano to the extent Eldar does- he is a combination of Vladamir Horowitz, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, Bill Evans, you name it- he can play it, and with his own personal signature as well. After hearing him at Yoshi’s, I invited 25 friends (many of them professional musicians with years of experience) to hear Eldar in October at the Legion of Honor Museum in SF and not one of them diagreed with my assessment. A virtuoso like this comes along once in a lifetime and there is bound to be one critic who, unable to dispute the remarkable technique, falls back on the tired comment about “soul”. If those same criticss heard the same quality coming out of the old masters’ hands, then suddenly it would have soul. I guarantee you, unless Eldar gets in a car wreck or self-destructs on drugs or some other foolish vice, he is destined to become one of the all-time greats in the world of jazz piano.

By: Sakamoto

Sakamoto — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:55:08 +0000

This is an amazing album, made all the more amazing by the fact this guy is young… we saw him open for a late night Prince concert for two days before New Years and were in awe…

By: Bien

Bien — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:10:50 +0000

Having the mastery of exceptional keyboard speed is fine in and of itself. Eldar has this in spades. But without a sense of lyricism and rhythm creativity, this talent anomaly can wear thin quickly. Eldar’s talent will not wear thin anytime in the next several decades. What a fresh star I look forward to enjoying for a long time. As good as the percussion work is by Ali Jackson, there are a couple of selections where it is a bit heavy-handed and consequently a bit distracting from Eldar’s amazing presentation. Small criticism however. This CD is a joy!

By: Qureshi

Qureshi — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:01:58 +0000

Living in KC myself i cannot believe I have not heard of eldar until just recently. Im not a true jazz or contemporary jazz fanatic but this album shows incredible potential. Granted the ballads are generic but this guy has genuine intentions in his music and hopefully he will grow into what he has the potential to be. Overall a good cd with stints of greatness.

By: Kiley

Kiley — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:46:00 +0000

I first saw this artist on a late night talk show and rarely do I “sit up and take notice” of such artists but this one caught my ear immediately. the CD was NOT a disappointment…it features beautiful arrangements and a nice selection of material. Everytime my CD player “hits” this CD….I sit up and take notice…it is just a wonderful!!! Nice to see the tradition of fine jazz continues.