Oriental Tales with Pyotr Vostokov

On November 20, Pyotr Vostokov’s Big Jazz Orchestra will present the unusual programme Oriental Tales, dedicated to 20th-century Oriental jazz.

The evening will feature early jazz classics inspired by Eastern motifs, celebrated compositions by Juan Tizol, excerpts from Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite, works by Soviet jazz orchestras inspired by Caucasian themes, and jazz arrangements of classical melodies with an Eastern character.

Audiences will hear the Arabian tales of Scheherazade and the thrilling Sabre Dance in jazz arrangements, as well as the legendary compositions Caravan and Palestine, which have become classics of world jazz, alongside other standards essential to the history of the genre.

Pyotr Vostokov

Pyotr Vostokov is one of the most talented musicians of his generation, whose career has risen rapidly to the forefront of the Russian jazz scene.

Vostokov discovered jazz at the age of 16, when he joined Vladimir Segal’s youth big band at the Central House of Culture of Railway Workers. In 2009, he graduated from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, where he studied ensemble performance with A.V. Oseychuk and orchestral performance with A.O. Kroll.

In 2006, he became a graduate of the Open World American-Russian educational programme, through which he performed at the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival in the United States.

In 2010, together with singer Darya Antonova, Vostokov founded the Big Jazz Orchestra (BJO), of which he remains Musical Director.

Together with the BJO, he regularly performs at major Russian and international festivals, including Jazz in the Hermitage Garden, Triumph of Jazz, Koktebel Jazz Party, and many others. The orchestra performs at Russia’s leading philharmonic and concert venues and is a resident ensemble at Esse Jazz Club and Alexey Kozlov Club. It also actively tours throughout Russia.

The Big Jazz Orchestra’s debut album was recorded in 2017 at the legendary Mosfilm Studio No. 1.

In recent years, the orchestra has participated in several major television and online projects, including The Big Musical, Big Jazz, and LAB with Anton Belyaev, as well as recording music for popular films and television series such as House Arrest and Odessa Steamer.

In 2020, Pyotr Vostokov was named Musician of the Year by Radio Jazz 89.1 and received the All Colors of Jazz Award.