Cyril Moshkow

music journalist
Moscow, Russia

Cyril Moshkow's blog in English (Blogspot)

the jazz industry in america (book) | u.s. radio appearances | other public events in the u.s.| short bio

The Jazz Industry In America
by Cyril Moshkow

Russia's First Book On American Jazz

Well, the sensational headline is a bit too sensational: technically, most of the books about jazz published in Russia so far are the books on American jazz -- but they are either compilations, or translations. What I wrote is the first-ever original book about jazz, written in Russsian language -- a book that tells stories about how the American jazz community is functioning: how the musicians get their education, how they play in clubs and at the festivals, how they make recordings, how other people then cover their music in the press and play it on the radio, conduct research on them etc.

The book, titled The Jazz Industry in America, is published by Planeta Muzyki, the St. Petersburg-based branch of Russia’s Lan publishing house (release date: July 29, 2008.). The book is based on a collection of more than 40 in-person and several more phone and email interviews with American jazz educators, club owners, festival organizers, scholars, radio presenters, record label executives, producers, sound engineers and others who create and support jazz.

On July 30, 2008, I presented the book at the American Cultural Center in Moscow; it was nice to see some fifty people in the room, to answer their intelligent and in-depth questions, and to hear several kind words from my colleagues.
On the picture: Dmitry Ukhov, the chairman of the Moscow branch of Jazz Journalist Association (right,) shares his thoughts about the book with the author (left) and the audience.

BTW if you read Russian and want to purchase the book, do not hesitate to contact me.

September 29, 2007: Cyril Moshkow has participated in the conference entitled Jazz in the Global Imagination: Music, Journalism, and Culture, at the School of Journalism, Columbia University, New York City (presented by The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University in partnership with the Jazz Journalists Association) .
NEW: Read "Somewhere Over Nine Minutes. Further reflections on jazz in Russia", by Cyril Moshkow (published in Jazz Notes, January, 2008)

The video from the panel discussion Cyrl Moshkow participated in on February 27, 2007, Jazz from Afar, at the New School University (New York City), is now available online.
Click here to launch the video player (106 min), or download the mp4 video file from here (379 Mb). On the still: Howard Mandel (President, Jazz Journalists Association) observes Cyril Moshkow speaking during the Feb. 27, 2007 panel discussion.

CYRIL MOSHKOW BIO

Kirill "Cyril" Moshkow was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1968. He entered the Moscow State University in 1984 and, having taken a brief break for mandatory military service, studied at the Journalism department (specializing in TV journalism) until 1991. The eventful history of post-Soviet Russia and its promptly growing mass media and entertainment markets made a great impact on Cyril's career: in 1990-1998, he used to work as a TV reporter, a music festival producer, a security guard, a news agency editor, a rock group musician, a radio station host, a newspaper columnist, a radio station program director, and again as a TV reporter. In 1998 he joined Jazz.Ru, Russia's leading Web conglomerate dedicated to jazz music, as a managing editor. Besides writing a good deal of articles for the weekly jazz online magazine inside Jazz.Ru, Cyril writes extensively for several Russian printed publications - daily newspapers (Izvestia), weekly general interest and entertainment magazines (The Weekly, Afisha, TimeOut Moscow) and monthly music magazines (Play, Stereo&Video, Audio&Video Review, Salon AV). 
In 2002, Jazz.Ru was awarded the National Internet Award of Russia as the Music Site of the Year. Since 2000, Cyril also serves as Russian contributor to Down Beat, the world's oldest and most respected jazz magazine. 
In late 2006, Jazz.Ru launched the first printed Jazz magazine in post-Soviet Moscow. The magazine, titled simply Jazz.Ru, was presented at a release party at the Moscow House of Journalists in December, 2006. After four pilot bimonthly issues in 2007, Jazz.Ru Magazine (full-color, thick paper, 68 pages) switched to monthly mode in August, 2007. Cyril Moshkow serves as the magazine's both Publisher and Editor; the Jazz.Ru team also does not give up the Web portal, continuing service to its 10,000 strong online community.
From 1991 to 2008, Cyril Moshkow also taught music journalism at the Moscow State University. His educational experience also includes guest lectures at the New York University (Roots of Popular Music, School of  Continuing and Professional Studies, New York University, New York, NY) in 2000 and 2001, and at the University of Idaho (Mass media in Russia, for School of Communication, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID) in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Cyril Moshkow also gave lectures at the University of Idaho in February, 2006 ("Jazz in Russia", within the program of Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival,) and 2007 (School of Journalism,) participated in the University of Idaho symposium "Jazz Invades Europe" (February, 2007) with the lecture "Jazz in Soviet Russia: the First Fifty Years (1922-1972)", and spoke to the audience of Jazz Journalist Association members and jazz community activists at the New School University Jazz Program (New York, NY) during the February 27, 2007 JJA's Jazz Matters Series panel discussion "Jazz From Afar".
The discussion is now available online:
Click here to launch the video player (106 min), or download the mp4 video file from here (379 Mb).
This is how one of Cyril's early guest lectures at University of Idaho looked in 2000 (photo courtesy LS Comm)

Cyril Moshkow is also a science fiction writer who published, since 2001, three science fiction novels in EKSMO Press, Russia's largest publishing house (20.000 copies sold in total). He had also completed a large book about the industry of jazz music in the United States, based on the interviews that he made during his six visits to the U.S.A. in 1998-2002 ("Jazz Industry in America") and, while working on its publishing, now completes another book on music, dedicated to some of the most prominent record labels and records producers in popular music, blues, soul and jazz music during the second half of 20th century. 
Cyril travels extensively as a jazz journalist covering jazz festivals and other forms of jazz activity, both alone and with his co-author, Muscovite music journalist Anna Filipieva (recently toured and reviewed:  Jazz Em Agosto, Lisbon, Portugal, 2007; Belgrade Jazz Festival, Belgrade, Serbia, 2007; Jazz Czterech Kultur, Lodz, Poland, 2001; Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Moscow, Idaho, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007; Jazz Carnival, Odessa, Ukraine, 2001, 2002, 2004; Ethno Jazz Trio, Chisinau, Moldova, 2002; Jazz Rally, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2003, 2005; Jazz Summer, Varna, Bulgaria, 2004; Jazz Koktebel, Crimea, Ukraine, 2005; Jazzkaar, Tallinn, Estonia, 2006, 2007; Kingston Jazz Festival, Kingston, NY, 2006; etc.)

Cyril Moshkow on AllAboutJazz.Com:
Ivan Farmakovsky: Raising the Bar (October, 2009)
Open-Air Jazz In And Around Moscow (August, 2009)
"A Quickie Guide To Jazz Festivals In Eastern Europe" (2003)

Cyril Moshkow's English articles for various Russian and international publications (raw, unedited)

Cyril Moshkow's Russian Jazz Podcast in English

EVEN MORE DETAILS: Cyril Moshkow's resume