Piano phenom Eldar to perform at the Bistro on November 9

Jazz St. Louis has announced that 19-year-old piano phenom Eldar Djangirov, known professionally by just his first name, will come to St. Louis on Thursday, November 9 for a one-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro.

A native of Kyrgystan who was just 11 when he arrived in the United States in 1998, Eldar caused an almost immediate sensation, in short order appearing on pianist Marian McPartland's radio program Piano Jazz, CBS' Sunday Morning news program and the Grammy Awards telecast. He released his debut CD for Sony Classical in 2005 and a followup earlier this year, and also has been performing at major festivals, concert halls and clubs while continuing his education at the University of Southern California. Like his contemporary Taylor Eigsti, Eldar's style is rooted in some serious classical chops, and critics often have compared his playing to the florid, highly ornamented pianistics of musicians such as Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Phineas Newborn Jr.

For his St. Louis gig, he'll perform sets at the Bistro's usual times of 8:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m.. Tickets are on sale now. In the meantime, you can get a little preview of Eldar by checking out the two video clips accompanying this post. The first shows the young pianist and his trio performing "Point of View," a song from his first CD, at a concert last year in Moscow, Idaho, and the second is from March 2006 and was recorded in Amsterdam.