Igor Dadyomov

Igor Dadiomov was born in Minsk (Belarus) in 1949, in a family of artists. His father Vladimir Dadiomov was a famous Belorussian writer and his sister Olga is a Doctor of Musicology. He graduated from the Conservatory in his hometown in 1983 (bajan-accordeon in Robert Nazarenko’s class, guitar and piano). Dadiomov became interested in jazz in his youth, and in 1978 was one of the founders of the jazz club in Minsk. In the USSR at that time jazz was still looked upon as a “bourgeois deviation.” Jazz survived (and developed) in the USSR only because small groups of enthusiasts played it despite the fact that it was officially illegal.
After graduating, Dadiomov chose to live in Sochi, a summer resort on the Black Sea where state control was not as strict as in the centre of the country. The Music School in Sochi even had a Department of Jazz and Popular Music, where Dadiomov taught until he left for Israel. In Sochi he played in various jazz ensembles and wrote compositions, some of which (such as Frost) gained great popularity and were even broadcast on Soviet radio. Dadiomov’s works of this period reflect his growing acquaintance with the basics of classical jazz.
In 1992 Dadiomov settled in Israel, where he worked as a guitar teacher at the Rubin Conservatory of Music in Beer-Sheba. Once in Israel, Dadiomov profited from the highly developed Israeli jazz scene, with its frequent and numerous guest appearances by jazz giants. Absorbing all he heard, Dadiomov soon became an esteemed expert in many areas of jazz. Together with guitarist Gidon Hartz he produced a very interesting compact disc of chamber music for two guitars entitled Fantasy. On the disc the two guitars alone, with no percussion or other effects, create highly sophisticated, refined academic chamber jazz.
Dadiomov was a member of the Israel Composers’ League, and some twenty of his compositions have been published in Israel. His composition Frost has gained in Israel the same popularity it enjoyed on Soviet radio.
On November 27, 2002 Olga Dadiomova received in Minsk a letter from her brother Igor containing a copy of a CD, which he had just completed. He had worked on the disc for two years, insisting on recording everything himself. On the CD he appears as a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar (classical, electric, and bass guitar), keyboards, and rhythm (although some pieces use a rhythm machine). Dadiomov was a connoisseur of all jazz styles, and the CD includes 11 compositions he wrote and recorded in the styles of 11 giants of jazz and popular music. On the same day the letter and CD arrived in Minsk, Igor Dadiomov passed away suddenly in Beer-Sheba.