Anatoliy Vapirov - "Mysteria" {Russia} [1977] (jazz/fusion)

Anatoliy Vapirov was one of the most prominent jazz artists in the Soviet Union in the mid and late 70s. He taught saxophone and jazz improvisation classes in Leningrad Conservatorium of Music, and in parallel worked with jazz bands, openly displaying his affiliation with underground rock movement and keen interest in contemporarty avant-garde. In 1976 and 1977 respectively, Anatoliy somehow managed to release two LPs in the USSR with music more than somewhat different from what the state-owned Melodia label was known for. More challenging and 'deviant' works in avant-jazz direction followed in late 70s and early 80s, and made their way to the West (via Leo Records, an independent British label) remaining unreleased in the Soviet Union. By that time, Vapirov's intellectual independency and non-conformism got him into the conflict with Soviet authorities which resulted in a framed-up court action against the artist and in his incarceration. After being discharged in mid-80s, Vapirov emigrated to Bulgaria. He is still quite active in the East European scene, running an annual jazz festival in Varna and participating in local and international music projects.

"Mysteria" is the second of the two early, 'Soviet' releases by Anatoliy Vapirov. It features an exquisite and well-crafted mix of chamber fusion and free jazz with light touches of Slavic spiritual music. This is a vinyl rip, the cover is not available. My hearty thanks go to Mr. Medvedev, Russia, for kindly sharing the original record from his collection.

Line-up:

Anatoliy Vapirov - tenor & soprano saxophone
Boris Lebedinsky - guitar
V. Dunayevsky - bass
Daniel Martin - drums

Tracklist:

1. Mysteria (beginning)
2. Mysteria (ending)

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