Jazzing up the ivories from a tender age

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Piano wizard Eldar Djangirov, 15, has been called "the Tiger Woods of jazz." Eldar Djangirov 7:30 p.m. Thursday Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawai'i-Manoa $20 general; $15 students, military, seniors, UH faculty 956-6878

So what does this mean to this prodigy, who is heading to Hawai'i for a concert Thursday at the University of Hawai'i?

"It's nothing, really," he said in a phone interview from Prairie Village, Kan., his home for the last four years. "I never gave it much thought. I only think about my playing. I like music. I like jazz. I play jazz," he said simply.

Life goes on. He's first and foremost a kid in school, a sophomore at Barstow School, where the homework is handed out like at any other American school.

And, he said, while he may excel in jazz, at such a tender age "there's still a lot I have to learn. I enjoy the freedom that jazz offers, the freedom of improvisation, and I love the opportunity to create music on top of the music you're playing."

Clearly, he speaks the jargon.

And he's exclusively plugged into jazz and classics, not pop or rap.

"I hate rap," he said. "And classical music gives me the foundation to play jazz."

As a toddler, he learned to play piano by watching his father, Emil, at the keyboards, back in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

By 5 1/2, he was studying music with his mother, Tatiana, a musicologist who was teaching music history at the Music College in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

In 1996, when Eldar was playing at a Russian jazz festival in Novosibirsk, he won the enthusiasm of New Yorker Charles McWhorter, who helped get him a scholarship at the Interlochen (Mich.) Center for the Arts for several summers.

By 12, he was part of the High School Jazz Big Band. And he was convinced that jazz was his destiny.

"Because there is no jazz in Kyrgyzstan, my family moved to the U.S. There are more opportunities here."

In 1998, the Djangirov (pronounced "johnGEARoff") family settled in Prairie Village, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. "Coming to America was a dream come true for us, a dream fulfilled," said Eldar. "And one of them is jazz; jazz was born in America."

He quickly learned English.

He carries a green card and hopes to become a U.S. citizen.

He practices piano three hours daily, often longer.

"Beyond the three hours, I also listen to a lot of other (piano) players. Listening, to me, is a hobby, where I can learn a lot more."

When he talks music, he lights up. "Piano players like hearing horn players; I like their ideas, the way they solo. I think piano and horn players have different approaches, so I like to sit back and listen to both."

His first piano "find" was Oscar Peterson. "I still listen to him and learn from his arrangements," said Eldar. "Bill Evans was a great piano player, too, with a great harmonic structure. And Marian McPartland, too."

He rambles off jazz names like a discographer.

"I read Billy Taylor's book and learned a couple of tunes he did; there have been many others, too. And Chick Corea; I love the stuff he's done over the years."

In school, his favorite subject is math. "I think music has a lot to do with math," he said. "They're both very structured, with an abstract structure behind, all based on logic and calculation."

He has disdain for some school courses. "I hate physical education; to me, P.E. doesn't give you anything when you just run around with a ball."

He has no girlfriend because he has "no time." When he's not in school studying, there's homework; whenever he can, he tours.

He laments the fact that most kids his age aren't turned on to jazz. That leaves him a little too isolated for comfort.

"A couple of kids I know know jazz, but not many. Most listen to rap. So it's lonely sometimes. But it just gives me more time for my jazz."

He says he's really an average kid, 5-foot-4, 125 pounds, "who buys and owns a lot of CDs," he said.

But remember, it's mostly jazz, not Eminem. Not 'N Sync, not Ludacris, not Nelly.

He seldom watches TV, but finds joy in "The Simpsons" when the tube is on. And one American thing he adores: "Pizza."

He's also eager to explore the wonders of Hawai'i. "I've only seen in pictures. I've always hoped to visit someday," he said. So the trip will include a mini-vacation, "so I can swim in the ocean."

But after Honolulu, there are gigs in Los Angeles, a brief return to Kansas City and a performance at the Library of Congress.

"October will be busy," said Eldar, with understatement.