Roman Viazovskiy Plays Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk “Round Midnight” Arr. R.Dyens – played by Roman Viazovskiy

Here’s guitarist Roman Viazovskiy who is performing here  for Ukranian TV…  his program “Wanderer in time” (“Zeitenwanderer”)

Roman is as fluid of a player as you will ever hear, and I really like this interpretation of “Round Midnight” as it’s coming from a classical approach rather than just jazz. Yea there’ s a lot of jazz in this composition by nature (hello, it’s Thelonious Monk, check out the changes) but you just have to wonder how much if any of this is improvisational?
Normally classical musicians will not deviate from what’s written and try to maintain the composers integrity of note choice rather than embellish. It does give credit to R.Dyens arrangement so… my guess would be that it’s all written down. What do you think? I just find it almost humorous that a strict arrangement would come out of  a Monk song…. especially with Monk’s unique improvisational style.

Here’s some more info on Roman Viazovskiy:

“Roman Viazoskiy was born in 1974 in Donezk, Ukraine. From 1988 to 1992, he studied with Viktor Kriwenko at the Donezk College of Music. He continues his studies with Prof. Walerij Iwko (guitar) and Ludmila Popowa (conducting) at the Sergey Prokofiev Conservatory in Donezk. After graduating in 1996, he began his postgraduate studies with Prof. Reinbert Evers at the Music Academy in Detmold, Munster Campus. He completed his studies at the Cologne Music Academy, Aachen Campus with Prof. Tadashi Sasaki. 

Roman Viazovskiy has won prizes in numerous national and international competitions. Concert commitments have led him to almost every European country, to the Near East, the USA, South America, to Japan, China, Thailand and to the most important guitar festivals. As a soloist he has played in renowned concert halls, including the National Philharmonic of the Ukraine in Kiev, the Bunka kaikan Recital Hall in Tokyo, the Claude-Champagne Hall in Montreal and the Concertgebouw in Brugges. In March 2007 he had his debut at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic.

Roman Viazovskiy has received many international awards and he is fellow of the GWK, Münster / Westfalia. He has taken part in numerous radio and television broadcasts in the Ukraine, Germany, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Japan. 2001 saw the release of his debut CD, “Fatum” (Dreyer.Gaido CD 21001), in 2006 his CD “Sonatas” (CLCL102, ClassicClips) and in 2011 his album “Zeitenwanderer/Wanderer in Time” was published.

In addition to his career as a concert-soloist, Roman Viazovskiy is a passionate and highly distinguished teacher. He has taught at various institutions, master classes and was assistant to Tadashi Sasaki. His experience includes working with students of all levels, ranging from highly talented children to academy students and professional guitarists.”

Roman Viazovskiy has received a ton of  international awards fpr his guitar playing… check them all out (what a list!!)  go here