The Corners Five: Eric Alexander/Craig Handy - tenor sax, Jim Rotondi/Alex Sipiagin/Scott Wendholt - trumpet, Andrei Kondakov - piano, Dmitri Kolesnik - bass, Lenny White/Gene Jackson/Billy Drummond - drums
The HKM Trio: Dmitri Kolesnik - bass, John Hart - guitar, Jimmy Madison - drums
Sounds Like
DMITRI KOLESNIK: Five Corners (Challenge): "Fashions change, but classic cool never goes out of style: the second CD by Russian-born bassist Kolesnik feels right from the first note. Hipster shuffles, bop burners and dreamy ballads are all performed with urbane aplomb by a dynamite band. Eric Alexander’s silvery tenor sax and the flaring trumpet of Jim Rotondi provide cover while the leader’s rich, supple bass anchors Andrei Kondakov’s flights of piano fancy. And Lenny White is all over it on drums. Everything clicks." - Forrest Dylan Bryant/JAZZ TIMES
His sound is warm and big, and his choice of notes is truly inspirational. His playing continues to grow and make his presence on New York jazz scene necessary. His compositions also merit close attention. Ron Carter
This new CD,"FIVE CORNERS," contains wonderful music
written by Dmitri Kolesnik (8 songs) and Andrei
Kondakov (2 songs), and played very well by my dear
friends, Lenny White, Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi and Alex Sipiagin (2 tracks), Andrei Kondakov, and longtime fellow bassist and dearest of friends, Dmitri Kolesnik.
I am still listening to this CD, and am sure that you
will want to hear it again and again... Ron Carter
Kolesnik distinguishes himself with a full and round tone. His inventive walking lines work to embellish the soloist’s ideas... As a composer he is capable of writing music of great emotional content; from full out swingers to light and clever mid-tempo masterpieces and lush ballads, Kolesnik is obviously a musician who has spent great time in study of music of the masters. His ability to then filter that knowledge through his own prism to create wonderful masterpieces of form and harmony results in a truly enjoyable CD. You will find yourself listening to this disc again and again. Thomas R. Erdmann/Jazzreview.com
A recommendation for an acoustic jazz music lover - Jazzism
If you don't know any better, you would think that every piece is a classic... Very convincing - Slagwerkkrant
These men converse at a high level bebop language - Financieel Dagblad
Traditional jazz in a sparkling way - Nederlandsdagblad
Fans who consider 1959 the year jazz started to go wrong will line up for this hi-pro traditionalist disc by Russian bassist-composer Dmitri Kolesnik, a student and acolyte of Ron Carter...."Five Corners" swings, beautifies, blows tough & tender. Keep that time machine polished; we need it sometimes. Metal Jazz Magazine
The group is called "The Corners Five," and it embodies the hopeful reality that jazz is a truly universal language as much as anything I have heard in the past 40 years. American tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander and drummer Gene Jackson flew in from New York and joined forces with the great Russian jazzmen Andrei Kondakov, Dmitri Kolesnik, and Alex Sipiagin to create one strong voice that touches the heart and moves the soul. Especially memorable were the intriguing and vivid compositions by bassist Dmitiri Kolesnik, especially "Anyuta" with an angular 5/4 meter, and the wistful and haunting ballad "White Nights, Gray Days."
...masterful partners-in-time Andrei Kondakov on piano, Dmitri Kolesnik on bass, and Gene Jackson on drums. Jazz like this sings out the undeniable and welcome imperative that we must all swing together or we will swing separately. Todd Barkan / Jazz at Lincoln Center
These hard-swinging, thoughtful players with a variety of fresh tunes brought back some of the excitement of the '70s and '80s ... Hopefully we will be hearing more from this great Russian-American band. Jill McManus /Jazz reviewer for Newark Star-Ledger
Dmitri Kolesnik, bassist and composer,
is originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. Growing up during the times of the “Iron Curtain” he was steered towards jazz music by his father, a scientist, jazz fan and piano player. He taught himself to play bass by listening to Willis Conover’s Voice of America, Jazz Hour and transcribing from smuggled records.
He toured and recorded with top Soviet groups, and met and played with infrequently visiting American musicians including Dave Brubeck, Billy Taylor, Jon Faddis and Pat Metheny. At the age of 24 he was voted “Discovery of the Year” by the Russian Jazz federation and for the next several years was listed among the top six bassists of the country. He was featured on eight LPs on the state-owned Melodia label. His name is recognized in "Jazz. XX Century. First Russian Encyclopedia."
His love of American Jazz made it one of his life long dreams to come to New York and learn first hand from great musicians there. He was trying to get this opportunity for 15 years but was refused by the Soviet government. He finally came to New York in 1991 just before the collapse of the Soviet Union which ironically made leaving Russia much easier.
He started out playing on the streets and in subways and slowly made his way up finding his place on the very competitive New York scene.
He earned his Master's degree in Music from City College of New York in 1996 where he studied with Ron Carter. He wrote a book of transcriptions of Carter’s solos which was published by Hal Leonard Corporation. He worked with Sheila Jordan, Phillip Harper, Valeri Ponomarev, Richie Cole, Woody Allen, Bill Ware, Johnny Colon, Joe Magnarelly, Harry Whitaker, Duke Ellington Big Band, Joe Cohn and many others. He also taught at the University of Connecticut College of Continuing Studies.
He recorded an album on Knitting Factory label, toured Europe and appeared on BET with Bill Ware’s Vibe.
He has 2 CDs out as a leader and composer: "Blues for Dad" on Boheme Music label, and "Five Corners" on Challenge Records label, featuring Eric Alexander – tenor sax, Alex Sipiagin/Jim Rotondi - trumpet, Andrei Kondakov – piano and Lenny White – drums. They received good press and were played on radio nationally and internationally.
He co-leads and composes for The Corners Five band (featuring E.Alexander, A.Sipiagin/J.Rotondi, L.White/G.Jackson/B.Drummond) which many times performed in Smoke and Small’s and took part in several international festivals. Recently the band released an album: “Live at the Hermitage Theater” and performed at the JVC Jazz Festival.
Kolesnik was featured on Andrei Kondakov’s “Kind of Optimistic” album for Boheme Music label also featuring Paul Bolenbeck, Ravi Coltrane and Ralph Peterson and toured Russia with this band.
He is a part of joint project “HKM Trio” together with guitarist John Hart and drummer Jimmy Madison. Their CD “Russian Caravan” is in a process of being released.
He works with a legendary singer Mark Murphy with whom he played at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Birdland, Iridium etc. He also works with famous latin singer Johnny Colon with whom he recorded an album "Keeping It Real". Every Monday he leads a trio in popular Russian Vodka Room (265W52).
hi dima, now that obama has won the election, let's have a look at his foreign policy adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski: Zbigniew Brzezinski's "The Grand Chessboard" is nothing less than a blueprint for U.S. global domination drawn up by an insider of the American foreign policy establishment.........!!!!! the only candidate that would have brought real change to america and the world, was dennis kucinich (democrat) but after tv-discussions with h. clinton and obama, where he made both of them look very pale indeed, he was denied access to further media appearences. he was not allowed to take part in the deception-game because he was pointing out the truth. .........on the other hand the american voters have shown what they want...but they are not going to get it. sorry wolf
halllloooooo !!!!! here u r at the www..... wonderful to hear u again ... great sounds ... as usual.... should i bring u another bass from berlin .... hihi
Hi Dmitri, thanks for being friends in space; again I enjoyed visiting your page! Wish you good luck and many wonderful musical moments; kind regards, Ruud.
Thanks for the request! Nice nice music on your page...it was good to see you the other night at Smoke. I hope we'll get the chance to meet/play soon. All the best and keep swingin'.
Dmitri! It's great to hear from you! Man how are you?! Good to see you're doing well. Sounds great man... digging your music as always. Man we haven't played in a while.
Hello,Dmitri! 'S Wonderful to meet you here.. I'm glad! I liked your playing at ЭРМИТАЖ festival this year! Cool bassman - is the the person that singers always need! And that will be enough for JAZZ! What do you think?... *:)
