Improvised Soundscapes. Concept of Sasha Starostenko - part One

Alexander Starostenko was born in 1961. Music began to study at the age of six (on the piano). Guitar education: Music College named after. M. Mussorgsky in St. Petersburg (1979-1984). Influences: George Benson, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, John Scofield, Pink Floyd. 1985, he taught at the named school in the class of jazz guitar, harmony, arrangement and improvisation. 1982 he made his debut in the ensemble of saxophonist Mikhail Kostyushkin (Anatoly Glonti - drums, Dmitry Kolesnik - bass). In 1983 he was invited by saxophonist Valery Zuykov to participate in his quartet (Oleg Butman - drums, Vladimir Kudryavtsev - bass). 1984 he organized his own trio (Yuri Eremin - drums, Vladimir Kozlov - bass). At the same time, the first works appeared. Further - the participant of many jazz concerts and festivals across the country and abroad. American magazine ’Guitar Player’ for December 1988 writes: “...Interviewed on page 93, 26-year-old Sasha Starostenko is one of the finest jazz guitarist in the . Based in Leningrad, he is an imaginative, accomplished musician and composer (see music, page 94), whose work is a far cry from mere imitation. Starostenko is a professor of guitar at the Mussorgsky College of Music, which maintains a rare jazz program and represents the highest level at which jazz is taught in the Soviet Union...“ notes by Alexander Starostenko from Guitar Player magazine “... twenty-six-year-old Sasha Starostenko, an interview with which is posted on page 93 - one of the best jazz guitarists in the USSR. Lives and works in Leningrad. He is a gifted, accomplished musician. and a composer (see notes, p. 94), whose playing is far from mere imitation. Starostenko teaches guitar at the Mussorgsky School, which supports a unique jazz program and demonstrates the high level at which jazz is taught in the Soviet Union...“ Since 1996, Alexander Starostenko has been studying Old Russian chants (pillar, banner, travel, demestvenny). “I found that the construction of ancient Russian chants is in many ways similar to the construction of melodies in jazz. In both areas there are short phrases that make up a mosaic of melodies. What is called a cliché in jazz is called a chant in ancient Russian chants. By adding Byzantine isson to the characteristic Russian melodic turns and adding several harmonic deviations in the spirit McCoy Tyner, we get a very unusual consonance. The metrical organization of ancient melodies dictates the need to use complex sizes. For example, nine quarters and one eighth, or five quarters and three eighths. As a teacher of harmony and melodic construction in jazz, I dare say that this source material can be the basis for development in independent style in contemporary music“. Summer 2000 - he has been invited to Boston, USA to perform and give master classes at Berkeley College, as well as at Harvard University. Александр Игоревич Старостенко родился в 1961 году. Музыке начал обучаться с шести лет ( фортепиано). Гитарное образование: музыкальное училище им. М.Мусоргского в Санкт-Петербурге (1979-1984). Влияния: Джорж Бенсон, Хэрби Хэнкок, Джон Колтрэйн, Джон Скофилд, “Пинк Флойд“. Начиная с 1985 года преподавал в названном училище по классу джазовой гитары, гармонии, аранжировки и импровизации. В 1982 дебютировал в ансамбле саксофониста Михаила Костюшкина В 1983 был приглашен саксофонистом Валерием Зуйковым участвовать в его квартете В 1984 организовал собственное трио. Появляются первые сочинения. Участник многих джазовых концертов и фестивалей по стране и за рубежом. Американский журнал ’Guitar Player’ за декабрь 1988 года пишет: “...двадцатишестилетний Саша Старостенко, интервью с которым размещено на странице 93 - один из лучших джазовых гитаристов в СССР. Живет и работает в Ленинграде. Он одаренный, состоявшийся музыкант и композитор (смотрите ноты, стр.94),чья игра далека от простой имитации. Старостенко преподает гитару в училище им.Мусоргского, поддерживающего уникальную джазовую программу и демонстрирующего высокий уровень джаза преподаваемого в Советском Союзе...“ 1996 - Александр Старостенко изучает древнерусские распевы (столповой, знаменный, путевой, демественный). “Я обнаружил, что построение древнерусских распевов схоже с построением