Today, old eastern cultures are going for jazz, making it brighter with their peculiar

colors. From the beginning of the 1980s, the orchestra soloist ensemble of
Gosteleradio (State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting) of Uzbekistan,
the Boomerang and Medeo ensembles from Alma-Ata, groups Sato and
Raduga (rainbow) from Fergana Valley, and many other musical groups, were
demonstrating jazz with Asian tone on jazz festivals, in concerts and on
gramophone recordings. Thus, they presented a striking occurrence, which was
called the eastern wave in Soviet jazz. Semyon Morduchaev and the Grieg Pushen
ensemble made their special contribution to this occurrence.
Semyon Morduchaev, an exceptionally expressive, virtuoso sax player, has been
one of the leading jazz musicians of Tashkent for years. In 1980, he formed an
ensemble, and has successfully performed with it on various jazz festivals in
Krasnoyarsk, Yaroslavl, Donyetsk, Odessa, Riga, Leningrad. An ordinary jazz quartet
(saxophone, piano, bass, percussion) set an extraordinary aim before it of mixing
the Uzbek folklore and a wide specter of eastern intonations with the modern avant
garde jazz styles.
Morduchaevs aims went far beyond the boundaries of musical experimentation.
The newborn Uzbek jazz was seriously lacking a professional status. Its artistic level
at the beginning of the 1980s was in such a state, that the only way to move
forward was to create professional, concert jazz ensembles. There werent any such
opportunities in the Republic, so those few very exceptional jazz musicians , who
were spotlighted by occasional celebrations and jazz festivals, started disappearing
into thin air.
With his unhesitating action, Morduchaev modified the Tashkent jazz club, appealed
to young music lovers someone he had to convince, with others he argued but in
the end he stayed in a popular music act of Uzbekkontsert. Its leader was Grieg
Pushen, a bass guitar player. In this group, young rock musicians were eager to try
out their jazz skills. That was quite a typical situation.
The performances of the Pushen ensemble on the Quostanay and Tbilissi jazz
festivals in 1986 showed the strongest side of his repertoire, which included
experimentation with Uzbek melodies and rhythmes, the folklore of Khoresm and
Pamir. Muslim jazz thats how foreign guests had called the Tashkent ensemble
during the Tbilisi-86 performances. Also, the ensemble was performing in national
costumes. It was one of the most spectacular performances in Tbilisi.
Finally, the ensemble, which had decided to be now called Anor (pomegranate),
made its first gramophone record. The desire to savor this pomegranate, to hear the
recording named Pomegranate flavour, is overwhelming.
The flavor of Pomegranate is, above all, the sound, the tone of Anor. Today, the
Eastern wave is under the influence of fusion style, with its highly developed
electronic and synthesized sound worlds. Anor often uses modern electronic
devices to give the national musical instruments timbre to the usual string and
keyboard instruments. In Melody by Enmark Salihov, a Korg-800 synthesizer
sounds like the Uzbek nay flute, and the guitar imitates first dutar (for Khoresm),
then sitar (for Pamir), then tanbur (for Yallama yorim). Sometimes the musicians use
read national instruments. In Khoresm miniatures jazz drums converse with the

doira, in Yallama yorim a gijjak can be heard. Morduchaevs soprano sax is earpiercing like surnai, which also gives the music national colors. The sound is exotic,
unrespectable for jazz.
Anor widely uses complex asian rhythmes. In Khoresm miniatures four beats to
a measure come to five and then to six. In Pamirian songs its seven or nine beats
to a measure, and the bass guitar solo sounds like the Uzbek oud, is based on a
virtuoso 14 beats pattern.
Today, striking and talented musicians perform in Anor. Andrey Pertsev, the young
drummer, has grown much as a performer in a short period of time. Yuhan
Binaminov is a master of national instruments. Adur Yakubov (keyboard) is also a
great arranger. The leader of the ensemble, Gried Pushen, has done a lot for this
record as a composer and arranger. This first record is the first step. Lets wish a
long and happy journey to the ensemble.
Alexey B.

The ensemble of modern music, lead by Gried Pushen,

Pomegranate flavor

Side 1
Pomegranate flavor
(G. Pushen) 6. 18
Melody
(E. Salikhov G. Pushen) 4. 05
Elena
(G. Pushen) 3. 25
Yallama yorim
(Uzbek national tune G. Pushen) 4. 36

Side 2
Pamirian songs
(Tadgik national tunes A, Yakubov) 13. 39
Khoresm miniatures
(Uzbek national tunes G. Pushen) 6. 46

The ensemble of modern music:

Grieg Pushen, bass guitar
Semyon Mordukhaev, saxophones: alt, tenor, soprano
Andrey Pertsev, drums, percussion
Adur Yakubov, keyboard, synthesizers Yamaha DX-7, Korp-800
Yuhan Binaminov, guitar, sitar, tabla, doira
Batur Tashkodgiaev, gijjak