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Vlad West: Green Light
by Budd Kopman
Green Light finds pianist/composer Vlad West (aka Vladimir Sermakashev) working in the same mode as his previous release In My Corner, so much of the “shock of the unexpected" is gone. Furthermore, that which was shocking before (the very high level of keyboard technique, musicianship and advanced harmony, contrasting with a quite harsh electronic rhythm section) has been intensified, so it must now be heard as West's modus operandi --at least for recording. Since “the unexpected" ...
read moreVlad West: In My Corner
by Budd Kopman
Everyone evolves as life proceeds, and musicians are no exception. However, In My Corner, recorded in 2011, almost twenty years after Say Hello To Russia, is so different from the latter as to give one pause. Vlad West is back on the keyboard, which was his first instrument, and it sounds electronic, but those are not the main differences. Besides piano, West also plays what sounds like electronic drums and bass, but that is also not the main ...
read moreVlad West: Say Hello To Russia
by Budd Kopman
Pianist/saxophonist/composer Vlad West could possibly be the best known unknown musician in jazz, at least in the U.S. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan as Vladimir Sermakashev, his first instrument was piano, and as a child prodigy, outgrew his teachers by the age of nine. He then switched to saxophone and jazz, becoming the top player in Baku and later Moscow by the age of eighteen. Defecting to the United States, he became the inspiration for the 1984 movie Moscow ...
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