Yuri Goloubev


Yuri Goloubev is a jazz musician, composer and double bass player. He switched to jazz in 2004 after over a dozen years as a very successful bass player in classical orchestras, and has achieved notable success in jazz also as a performer with "perfect pitch, flawless execution and an improviser's imagination". He is also praised for his arco playing. Ian Patterson, writing in All About Jazz wrote "There are few better exponents of arco, and his tone has the warm resonance of a cello."

Classical career

Yuri Goloubev won the First Prize in the All-Soviet-Union Students' Competition in 1990, then started work as the Principal Bass with the Moscow-based "Ensemble XXI" Chamber Orchestra. From 1991 til 1992 he also worked as a section bass with the Bolshoi Theatre. He studied classical composition at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and 1995 he received his master's degree in double bass as a soloist and chamber music performer. From 1992 til 2004 he was the Principal Bass with the Moscow Soloists directed by Yuri Bashmet. It was during this time that he performed with many artists such as Mario Brunello, Sarah Chang, James Galway, Lynn Harrell, Barbara Hendricks, Kim Kashkashian, Gidon Kremer, Shlomo Mintz, Thomas Quasthoff, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, Uto Ughi and Maxim Vengerov. He has performed at venues such as Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Gewandhaus, Concertgebouw, Salle Pleyel, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Palais des Beaux Arts, Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Megaro. He has also appeared at major festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Hong Kong Festival of the Arts, Bath Music Festival, Perth Festival, Casals Festival, Prestige de la Musique and Omaggio a Roma.

Jazz career

In December 2004 Goloubev moved to Milan, dedicated himself solely to jazz and quickly gained the attention of many Italian musicians. He worked with such artists as Francesco Bearzatti, Fabrizio Bosso, Gianni Cazzola, Giovanni Falzone, Claudio Fasoli, Paolo Fresu, Rosario Giuliani, Guido Manusardi, Massimo Manzi, Enrico Pieranunzi and Glauco Venier. He also worked with Bob James, Pablo Held, Till Brönner, Asaf Sirkis, Harvey Mason, Franco Ambrosetti, Kenny Werner, Klaus Gesing, John Law, Benjamin Henocq, Stan Sulzmann, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Julian Argüelles, Tim Garland, Rick Margitza, Manhu Roche, Gwilym Simcock, Mike Serin, Jason Rebello, Daniele Di Bonaventura, Chihiro Yamanaka, Bill Smith and Luigi Martinale. In 2007–2009 he taught at the jazz faculty of Centro Professione Musica in Milan and in 2010 became the Jazz Double Bass Professor at The Conservatorio di Musica F.A. Bonporti, Trento. Currently, he teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Wales.
Goloubev is also a composer and has released several albums as leader.
He has performed on over 100 recordings and two of his recent trio recordings have been selected as Critics Choice Top 10 Jazz Albums in Japan: Roberto Olzer Trio - Steppin' Out, #1 Best Jazz Album, 2013, Michele di Toro Trio - Play, #8 Best Jazz Album, 2014. Various albums with his participation have been featured in the inflight entertainment programs of such airlines as Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, Swiss, Emirates.
He has received widespread acclaim for his partnership with the pianist Gwilym Simcock in two recordings released on ACT Music in 2014. Their album "Duo Art: Reverie at Schloss Elmau" received a number of 4 star reviews. The critic Dave Gelly wrote in The Observer "In Russian bassist Yuri Goloubev, Gwilym Simcock has obviously found a collaborator with the same expansive imagination and equal virtuosity. The interplay between the two is like musical telepathy." In JazzTimes H. Allen Williams wrote, "Goloubev's playing is a sound of beauty with impeccable technique and heartfelt feel."

Awards

As leader/co-leader