Broken Arrays by Oğuz Büyükberber - Simon Nabatov

I met Simon ten years ago in Istanbul when I invited him and Gerry Hemingway to play at the 20th edition of Akbank Jazz Festival. In 2012, Bimhuis concert of the same trio was released as a CD. Over the years our collaboration continued with various bands, and “Wobbly Strata” became our first duo CD, a live recording at LOFT in Cologne.

Just around the corner from the legendary “Old Bimhuis” on the Oudeschans in Amsterdam where Eric Dolphy played his last recorded concert, a relatively new venue “Splendor” is starting to become the magnet for the new and edgy stuff. It’s run by an Amsterdam based artist-collective and it is an oasis type of a place where I feel that it’s OK to be me as a performer. There’s none of that “pleasing” and “fitting-in” pressure, and It’s OK to be intense. That’s where “Broken Arrays” was recorded during the 20th anniversary special of another Amsterdam based collective “Trytone”, which I am a part of.

With his open heart, Simon is one of the few people with whom I feel I don’t need to hold back. On the technical musical side of things, he just gets my musical references and cleverly layers them with his own multi dimensional orchestration on the piano. I can only try to keep up with half of his references though… I feel challenged and invited to push my limits, yet supported at the same time. It feels like we are telling a story together, while we each tell multiple stories simultaneously.

The day of this recording, I was having the strongest asthma attack I ever had. I was literally coughing blood for the first, and hopefully the last, time in my life. Simon and I had seriously considered to cancel the concert. He told me to layoff anytime I needed to, and that he would back me up if I needed him to. And look at what happened instead!

Oğuz Büyükberber

Simon Nabatov, pianist and composer, was born in Moscow in 1959.
In 1979 he emigrated to the USA, spent in NY next 10 years and 1989 he moved to Germany.
Simon Nabatov played with the "who's who" of the jazz and improvised music community, gave concerts in over 60 countries, appeared on the numerous international festivals, received prizes and documented his music on 30 CD's under his own name.