Ian Maksin – Chicago’s Yo Yo Ma
- Adela
- Jul 31, 2018
- 3 min read
Ian Maksin performing his solo composition "Firebird" at City Winery
It is a Monday Night at City Winery. The room, a healthy cacophony of sound and awkward smiles, clinking glasses, laughter, has seated strangers with strangers at the same table to accommodate a growing number of audience members. It is nearly sold out. Soon a man walks on stage with a smile, quickly speaking an introduction into the microphone before taking his place center stage. The smile falls. Eyes closed, he hunches over, black Beethoven-like hair falling erratically around his gaunt face, and draws the bow.
The room is silenced.
Ian Maksin is a Russian born cellist who for 10 years has called Chicago his home. Trained in the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, Ian began his professional musical career playing mostly classical music in settings all around the world. The more he travelled, the more stories he picked up from visitors to his concerts and jams with local artists. He began arranging some of his favorite folk songs; years later, his first cross-cultural solo album “Zaria” was released in 2017, sparking a renaissance that changed his performance path completely.
Photo Credit: Maria Bellamy Wagner
Tonight’s performance with Guitarra Azul reminds me why Ian Maksin is an act I actively attempt to see each time he’s in town. For one, the audiences he attracts are some of the most interesting and diverse ones I’ve seen. Over the course of collecting and interpreting traditional folk music, Ian has taught himself to sing in 10 different languages; people will sometimes show up with very little English knowledge simply to hear Ian sing ONE song in their native language. Walking out of the concert hall is like walking out of an airport, with different tongues surrounding you every way you turn.
Another fascinating aspect of Ian’s live shows are the settings in which he puts his songs. For every who doesn’t know, a setting is essentially the manner in which a song is played. At its most basic form it could be thought of as some mixture of the instrumentation and the genre in which the song is played in (pop, bossa, classical, etc.) Ian is well known for his bluesy, driving variation on “Ain’t No Sunshine”; one of my personal favorites this concert was his new setting of Kurdish folk tune where he mimicked traditional vocal ornaments in the cello’s melodic line. Ian’ s sets are always fresh: sometimes he’ll loop and layer multiple tracks over his own cello playing, oftentimes he’ll throw in double stops (two note chords on the cello) between melody lines to add energy to a traditionally static song, or brings out special guests to highlight colors in the tunes.
Which lead me to my last point – Ian’s ever-changing array of guest performers. His choices are always among the elite in any given place or town, making each concert experience different, each song interpretation slightly changed, for every show. It’s a type of concert experience that will always keep you on your toes. Tonight, Ian Maksin was joined by the fabulous Spanish Classical group Guitarra Azul. The group perfectly complimented Ian’s powerful, melancholic music with their fiery Latin Jazz and Flamenco stylings. Led by front man Steven (Stefano) Edwards, they inspired audience members on the fringes of the room to get up and start dancing. Even their own percussionist Ronaldo unexpected abandoned his Cajon in favor of flamenco dancing for the audience. They played a few songs solo as well, including their popular song “Lotus Flower” and a preview of a new tune that will be found on their next CD.
Whether or not you’re a fan of world music, the Ian Maksin concert experience is one that can’t be missed. He is a classical cellist, singer, folk musician and composer, Chicago’s own spin on Yo Yo Ma – a performer truly dedicated to bringing cultures together with the power of music.
Photo Credit: Maria Bellamy Wagner
I’ve included some videos from Ian Maksin + Guitarra Azul’s performance at the link here
Also check out the following websites for more information on where Ian Maksin and Guitarra Azul are playing next… and remember to buy tickets to their next concert together on Nov. 17th, 2018!
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