Alimatov: Ouzbekistan

A self-taught master of the dutar and tanbur lutes, Turgun Alimatov stands out on the delicate and rare sato (bowed tanbur) with it's hazy yet precise timbre. I first heard Turgun Alimatov's music in 1977. I had come to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to study Central Asian music at the Tashkent Conservatory, and of all the music I heard that year, Turgun's elegant and laconic performances on the tanbur (long-necked lute with raised frets), dutar (two-stringed lute), and sato (...) made much the strongest impression. This man is a master, I thought, after listening to Turgun's recordings on the Soviet Melodiya label, and I must meet him. Thirteen years later, I did, and thus began a much-cherished friendship with a startlingly original musical creator whom I have come to regard as one of the great musicians of our time. Theodore Levin. Turgun Alimatov (1922-2008) was a master performer on the tanbur, dutar and sato which he was instrumental in reviving. He began his musical career playing the violin in Tashkent's Muqimi Theater of Musical Drama. In 1948, Turgun Alimatov joined the Tashkent radio station, where he performed in a succession of ensembles, until 1982. For his innovations, Turgun Alimatov earned scepticism from older musicians. In any event, Alimatov's achievement has won him a large following, and his neo-classical performance versions have become classics in themselves for a younger generation of musicians.