Rishad Shafi's never-ending drum solo
He was rightfully called the genius of rhythm, king of drums, virtuoso and consummate master of his craft - the outstanding musician and composer Rishad Shafi went down in the history of world musical culture as a tireless inventor who managed to combine not only dozens of drum kits, but also to mix ethnic oriental music with jazz and other popular destinations.
Concert shows by Rishad Shafi, with which he traveled practically all over the world, have always been an unforgettable fireworks display of music and sounds. The maestro founded his own system for arranging percussion instruments and landing at a drum set, and also developed a technique for playing complex rhythms, which every experienced drummer can repeat. And with his invention - the "Zmey Gorynych" drum pedal, the musician got into the Guinness Book of Records.
Rishad Shafi was born in Ashgabat into a large family. When the magical rhythms of the drums first caught his attention, the boy was only four years old. It happened at a concert, the boy was so impressed by the drummer's solo part that he fainted. The fatal case seemed to determine the fate of the future musician. The day after the concert, he asked his parents to buy him a drum. And once picking up drumsticks, Rishad Shafi never parted with them.
Even being drafted into the army, he played in the regimental brass band, and after returning from service, he became a member of the vocal-instrumental ensemble "Gunesh". With the advent of Rishad, the group acquired its own unique style. He literally "conjured" over the drum kit, in his processing of complex, odd sizes of Turkmen national music, new hits of ethno-folk were born. At the very first rock festival in Tbilisi, Shafi's talent was awarded a special diploma - the best drummer of 1980.
The virtuoso musician taught at the Ashgabat Conservatory, toured a lot with the "Gunesh" ensemble, and after the collapse of the collective went to Germany, where he worked with foreign musicians on recording a CD. For the 25th anniversary of VIA "Gunesh" Rishad Shafi created a musical fairy tale "The Magic Robe", involving the stars of the Turkmen and world stage. The premiere of the musical took place in Ashgabat in 1995. The musician, as if arising from a fairy tale - Gin Hottabych, appeared on the stage in a dressing gown glowing with lights, which he also designed himself.
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The spectacle was in the style of Rishad Shafi. All of his performances became a kind of performance, where the drummer accelerated the rhythms, played fiery, impressive solos. He constantly improved his playing, invented new percussion musical instruments. The musician's giant drum kit is on display at the Mikhail Glinka Central Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow.
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In 2000, Rishad Shafi recorded his signature disc, Songs without Words. The drummer had been hatching the idea of creating a music album in which musicians and vocalists would sing without words for 15 long years. He believed that only a true musician could convey the depth of his feelings through wordless singing. The tracklist of the exclusive disc opens with the composition "Kushdepti" arranged by the drummer.
You can talk endlessly about the virtuoso drummer from Turkmenistan, so rich and eventful was his life. Rishad Shafi worked until the last days of his life, in 2009 the legendary musician passed away. But thanks to the preserved video recordings, contemporaries can still enjoy and be inspired by his inimitable drumming.
