Back to the incomparable Igor Nazaruk with 1978's Approval / Statement

 

As usual (in these Russian situations) multiple covers. Information here.

I've raved about Igor before, here. I put a link there for his masterpiece, the Forest Awakens. The Moscow composer Chugunov suggested by our Russian friend, is similar and probably superior in terms of the breadth of his oeuvre. I wish we could our hands on everything he ever composed.

Nazaruk was incredible in the way he mastered American jazz and fusion and incorporated it with the classical education and tradition, like Igor Brill posted here. I almost fell off my chair when I saw my friend had found another LP from Nazaruk that I hadn't seen before because of course these compiled lists are not up to date in discogs, just as you might expect from such a foreign country with clear 'lost music.' I wonder too how much of the Babayev music is lost over there, that other incredible composer.

You can get a sense of Nazaruk's jazz abilities from a solo piano rendition of the Bacharach standard Alfie that he plays on side 2, I am, despite having heard that tune millions of times already, entranced by the new ideas he brings to chords melodies and improvisations. Some cover versions include Feliciano and Wes Montgomery, but there are original compositions too.  In particular one from Nazaruk, called N. and A. is highly interesting: