Simon Nabatov

Simon Nabatov entered the world in Moscow, Russia, during 1959 as the son of a working musician, which placed him at the piano by age three and already composing by his sixth birthday. He progressed through the Central School of Music before continuing at the Moscow Conservatory, where his affinity for jazz quickly distinguished itself. His first professional appearance arrived in 1979 when he substituted for Dick Wellstood at a modest Roman club. One year afterward, after his family relocated from Moscow to the United States, Nabatov enrolled at New York’s Juilliard School of Music. Keyboard Magazine designated him Best Pianist in 1984, just twelve months after he completed his studies. Subsequent engagements linked him with Kenny Wheeler, Chet Baker, Sonny Fortune, Ray Anderson, George Adams, Mark Feldman, and Attila Zoller, and placed him alongside the Perry Robinson Quartet, the Klaus König Orchestra, and the Ray Anderson Quartet. In 1985 he finished second at the International Great Jazz Pianist Competition held in the United States. Circle the Line appeared the following year, recorded with bassist Ed Schuller and drummer Paul Motian. ENJA Records issued Inside Looking Out two years after that session. Nabatov departed New York for Cologne, Germany, in 1989 and that same year placed third at the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition in France while also receiving a National Endowment for the Arts grant. The ASP label brought out For All the Marbles Suite in 1991, and the Switzerland-based Hatology imprint released Sneak Preview. Tough Customer, featuring drummer Tom Rainey and bassist Mark Helias, followed in 1993 and contained the pieces “Sage,” “Puzzled,” and “Simple Simon.” Throughout his career Nabatov has taught at the Folkwang Hochschule, the International Jazz and Rock Academy, and the Musikhochschule Luzern.