Bios
Sergei Kuriokhin | 1954-1996
1988 Bio
Kuriokhin was born in Murmansk, Russia, in 1954. Three years later his father, an Army officer, was transferred to Moscow, where Sergei was raised until 1971, when the family moved to Leningrad. When he was four years old, his parents discovered that he had perfect pitch and sent him to music school. Although trained in the traditional classical repertoire, Kuriokhin was always interested in rock, jazz and improvisation. He has been described as "a one-man crossroads where alternative musicians in jazz, rock and classical music meet -- in person as well as in spirit."
As reported by The Space Agency in 1988:
"...Though ostracized by the State for his unorthodox music and life style as recently as 6 months ago, in March he was the darling of the official Leningrad Concert Bureau because of the standing room only crowds that showed up for his latest production of 'Pop Mechanics.'
"This spectacle established Kuriokhin as the premier performance artist in the USSR with full houses for three performances in an 8000 seat sports arena and three shows in the 4000 seat October Theatre. This edition of Pop Mechanics started as a beauty contest, which in the process of choosing the winner, examined many controversial aspects of contemporary Soviet life. The production included a nightclub-style orchestra with Soviet pop chanteuse, a Kirov Opera baritone, fanfares by Young Pioneers trumpeters, Hari-Krishnas, peasants and bureaucrats from the Stalin era, snake-charmers, Soviet-Army band and vehicles and, of course, the great Pop Mechanics rock band including American Joanna Stingray on guitar. Throughout the production one found continuous challanges to all forms of traditional Soviet authority figures, morals and lifestyle, to the point that many of the more conservative audience members walked out in disgust."
In 1996, at the age of 42, Sergei Kuriokhin died of a rare form of heart cancer. Visit his wikipedia page for more information about his life and career.
Sergei Kuriokhin performing in Popular Mechanics in Helsinki, 1995 (screen shot of video).
Alex Kan | 1988 Bio
Alex Kan is a Leningrad music critic who writes internationally for
Jazz Forum, Coda, Cadence and Downbeat and for a number of Soviet publications.
Alexander Kan | 2022 Bio
Born in 1954, Kan is a critic, writer, one of the leading experts in Soviet jazz and rock music.
In 1979 he co-founded and chaired Leningrad Contemporary Music Club (CMC), a birthplace and haven for the most daring underground musical experimentation in the USSR. After CMC was banned in 1982, Kan played a leading role in a number of other organizations of unofficial culture in Leningrad: Rock Club, Literary Club 81, Association of Experimental Art.
He contributed to samizdat and Western musical journals and smuggled out underground recordings of Soviet musicians for their publication on Western labels, often with his commentaries and liner notes, including the 8-CD anthology “Document. New Music from Russia” published by the UK-based Leo Records in 1989.
In 1989-1993 he was the artistic director of the Open Music festival in St. Petersburg, continuing to actively write for Russian and Western periodicals. In 1990, he produced a US tour of Soviet jazz musicians which included performances at the Good Will Games in Seattle.
Between 1993-1996 he worked as Senior Cultural Assistant at the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg.
Since 1996 he has lived in London, where he has been working as Arts and Culture Correspondent for BBC World Service. While in London he has continued to work on promoting Russian new music in the West, producing Russian programs for London Jazz Festival.
Kan also is the author of several books:
Before Jazz Began (2008); Kuryokhin. Skipper about the Captain (2012, 2020); Popular Mechanics (2014); The Main Songs of the 20th Century. From Dixieland to Hip-Hop (2021).
Here's the link to Alexander Kan's favorite tracks from 1980s Leningrad (including performances by Sergei Kuriokhin).
Alex Kan, 1986. Photo: Joanna Stingray.