With Misha’s Trio in Kazakhstan

Just played at the International Jazz Festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with the Misha Tsiganov Trio. That’s Misha on piano, Oleg Osenkov on bass, and myself on harmonica. Another eye-opener, this trip. As probably many of us, I imagined Kazakhstan to be a Barbarian wilderness with tooth-less hillbillies, much of it thanks to Borat and his gospel. But all wrong, this is a very hip country. Lots of Russian influence thanks to the Soviet era, but also quite different from Russia. Very laid-back and friendly people, and a mighty imposing landscape. Almaty is 30 minutes away from the Tian Shan mountain range, and they go up a sloppy 7000 meters. That is almost twice as high as the alps. Almaty also has some great local jazz musicians that we got to know in the after-hour jam session. So, Borat, time for a make-up movie, I suggest.