The famous film directed by Karen Shakhnazarov “We are from jazz” was included in the top twenty highest-grossing films in the USSR in 1983. The film was based on stories about the creation of the Soviet jazz band in the 20s. The authors of the picture were told by the composer, singer, arranger and conductor Alexander Varlamov. It was with his work, according to Leonid Utesov, it all started …
A brief biography of Alexander Varlamov will be presented to your attention in the article.
The heyday of jazz in Soviet Russia
It seems to the modern generation, who is not versed in jazz, that this Negro music has always been held in high esteem in the USSR. However, this is not quite true. There were persecutions of jazz, but later. In the 30s, this musical direction was considered the ideological and progressive art of the proletariat. Jazz orchestras played in the Kremlin, participated in filming at Mosfilm, for example, in the films Circus, Cheerful Guys, and The Girl Hurry on a Date. There were more than a hundred jazz orchestras in the country. This style of music is loved by many. He could be heard in a restaurant, on the dance floor, in the lobby of the cinema before the show, in a concert, circus, on the radio and record.
The first Soviet jazz orchestras
In Moscow in 1936, the State Jazz Orchestra was established, which was directed by Viktor Knushevitsky. The railway workers and the Radio Committee had their own jazz groups. Among music lovers, such genres as vocal ensemble and jazz tap dance were popular. Foreign jazz orchestras from Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden also actively performed in the country.
The creative principles of jazz of the 30s determined the development of this trend in Russia. Orchestras led by Valentin Parnakh in practice have shown that jazz can become an independent number in a concert and a philharmonic genre, so the 30s can be called the “golden” time of Soviet jazz. At the same time, jazz bands of Alexander Varlamov appear. In 1930, he created Pervoxe, otherwise the First Vocal Quartet of the Modern Stage.
Biography: Alexander Varlamov and his love of music in childhood
On June 19, 1904, Alexander Vladimirovich Varlamov was born into a creative family. Although he himself said that his birthday falls on a month later - July 19. Like in the documents they mixed something up and wrote down in June. Friends and relatives congratulated the composer on his birthday twice - in June and in July. He was always very happy about this.
Alexander Varlamov was born in the city of Simbirsk in a rather musical environment. His great-grandfather was a composer and author of popular romances and songs. Konstantin Aleksandrovich Varlamov, cousin of grandfather, was a famous dramatic actor. It is worth noting that many family members were also fond of music. The mother of little Sasha shone as an opera singer, she sang in the church choir.
The choice between music and theater
The logical continuation of the family dynasty was the enthusiasm of Alexander Vladimirovich Varlamov for music, which became his profession. Living until September 1918 in Simbirsk, Alexander studied first in the first and then in the second male gymnasium. In the same city, he graduated from a music school under the direction of E.V. Zetner's. In Simbirsk, his first musical creations were published - the waltz “Evening” and the play “Sadness”.
However, the music did not immediately fully capture the dreams of young Alexander. He wanted to realize himself in the career of a dramatic actor. For this, Varlamov in 1922 entered the acting department at GITIS. However, the love of music was stronger, Alexander goes to music school. Gnesins. There, he is engaged in the composition class of such masters as Reinhold Glier and Dmitry Rogal-Levitsky.
Passion for jazz
During his studies in Moscow, Varlamov Alexander first heard jazz. He attended a jazz concert by Valentin Parnakh. The listeners were delighted and stunned by the unusual sight and new music. In 1926, Alexander Varlamov attended a performance by Frank Wilters on tour with a jazz band. The music shocked and captivated Alexander Varlamov. He began to comprehend the basics of jazz orchestration, the method of playing, instrumentation.
His passion for jazz was given to Alexander Varlamov by his enthusiasm for radio technology. Through a makeshift radio, he listened to this extraordinary music. The jazz made the greatest impression after watching the movie “King of Jazz”, in which the famous composer and pianist George Gershwin performed his own rhapsody. Alexander Varlamov begins to write jazz music himself.
First steps in jazz
The first musical collective of Alexander Varlamov was Pervoxe. He is finishing his studies, with a diploma of conductor in 1931-1933 he got a job as the head of the musical part of the Moscow Miniature Theater. However, his plans were different. Varlamov Alexander collects a jazz orchestra at the Central House of the Red Army and conducts the first concert on a grand scale.
He attracts the attention of the public by collaborating with African-American singer Celestine Cool. By the way, the story with this performer got into the movie "We Are From Jazz". In the USSR, she was invited by a relative, a worker at the Moscow Bearing Plant, Moscow City Council deputy Robert Robinson. In Moscow, she received citizenship and studied singing. She liked the skill of Varlamov’s orchestra and, collaborating, they even released a record.
Although during the first meeting, Celestine flatly refused to perform with a jazz ensemble consisting of whites. The administrator of the team Felix Danilevich with difficulty, but persuaded the singer. Especially for her, Alexander Varlamov wrote the novels “Yellow Rose”, “Lallaby”, “Rhapsody of Love” by Williams and “Time is in My Hands”.
Later Varlamov Alexander assembled the first in the union group of musicians-improvisers “Seven”. In 1938, he worked with the jazz orchestra of the All-Union Radio Committee, and performed with him on Soviet television. In the early 40s, he was the head of the jazz orchestra of MVTU im. N. Bauman, later conducted the USSR State Jazz Orchestra.
With the outbreak of war, the USSR State Jazz was transformed into the Model Jazz Orchestra of the People’s Commissariat of Defense. The team went to the front, where almost all the orchestra musicians died. Varlamov Alexander stayed in Moscow and directed the symphonic jazz at the All-Union Pop Art Studio. He prepared musical numbers for performances in front of US sailors in the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.
Years in Link
The far-reaching plans of the talented musician were unexpectedly interrupted in the winter of 1943. Alexander Varlamov was taken into custody by a military convoy. He was sent from Moscow to the Urals, and then to Kazakhstan. Until 1948 he was the head of the camp orchestra, worked as a teacher in Karaganda. There are several versions of the reasons for the composer's detention and arrest, but the exact cause is unknown. Alexander Varlamov was accused of preparing concerts for the Germans, of preparing to flee abroad and of betraying the motherland. He spent 13 years in camps and exiles.
