Vadim Neselevskyi. ROOTS AND RIBS FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND FOOD.

Critics have praised NY-based pianist/composer Vadim Neselovskyi for
“extraordinary playing”(Los Angeles Times), “exceptional composition
skills” (musicweb-international.com) and“feathery touch” (New York
Times). While mostly known as one of the key members of multiple GRAMMY®
winner Gary Burton’s Quintet, and as a featured pianist and composer on
Burton’s Concord Records release “Next Generation,” Vadim is rapidly
gaining reputation as a band leader, creating a “thrilling blend of
classical and jazz” (jazzreview.com)

Vadim grew up in Odessa,
Ukraine, where he was the youngest student to be accepted into the
famous Odessa Conservatory, and then moved to Dortmund, Germany when he
was 17 years old. Shortly after arriving in Germany, he established
himself on the local jazz scene, taking part in the Dusseldorf Jazz
Rally and Leipzig Jazz Days. After a few years he moved to the USA to
further his studies at Berklee College of Music, where he was discovered
by Gary Burton.

Before graduating from Berklee Vadim was asked to
play and compose for a Berklee’s promotional recording produced by Pat
Metheny. Four weeks after graduation he was playing with Gary Burton at
the Blue Note in New York. Since June 2004 Vadim has been consistently
touring the US, Europe and Japan in Gary Burton’s quintet.

Vadim is developing a name for himself as a solo artist. His new CD, Music for September, produced by Fred Hersch received the following praise from Jazzpodium,

“Although
this reviewer is decidedly opposed to promotional labels like: ‘The
Chopin of the jazz piano’ (as the Neue Musik Zeitung entitled him), this
comparison however is not too far–fetched indeed. Growing from a
stalwart classical foundation, Neselovskyi’s immense technique, powerful
but crystal–clear touch and sparkling improvisations betray influences
from Bach to John Lewis and Lenny Tristano. In short, Vadim serves as a
living counter–example for musical pigeonholing. Neselovskyi
deliberately places himself within the tradition of great solo piano,
reimagining and enriching it with accomplishments of jazz and pop…His
music is everything: composition, adaptation, interpretation. And
sometimes it’s almost hard to distinguish where a standard is being
played, where he’s making an allusion and where it’s actually a
composition by Neselovskyi himself, who considers himself more a
composer than a pianist.”

His CD “Spring Song”, that features two charismatic singers Vera Westera (NL) and Amanda Baisinger (US), received enthusiastic reviews.