In my childhood, at an early stage of my passion for pop-music, I made for myself a naïve classification of musical genres: if musicians used only guitars and percussion instruments, that meant rock; if piano was added to those, then it was jazz and if all the above were joined by a violin, a cello, a harp, etc., then, definitely, it was classical music. Who knows how long I would have remained under such illusions if the recordings of a legendary rock band Jethro Tull had not reached Tbilisi? Here the leading part was performed by Ian Anderson’s flute.

I have made this brief excursion into my childhood because it was in connection with rock music that I came to hear the most popular Georgian flautist’s name for the first time. When Soft Eject decided to alter its style and enrich its sound, they approached Mr. Jansugh Kakhidze with the request to recommend a flautist. Without much thought, Mr. Kakhidze, got them in touch with, as he described, a very gifted and special young man, Dato Odzelashvili.

This happened five years ago. Since then, one can hear his name more and more often and in many different circles. Today when the word flautist is mentioned to in a conversation, quite naturally it is Dato Odzelashvili’s name that comes to one’s mind.

 The 27-year-old Dato is a flute-magician. He does not confine himself to traditions and stylistic boundaries. He is comfortable working in classical music, rock or jazz; but his latest passion is fusion and ethnic music. Dato can work wonders with the flute. At times, his instrument sings like a lark, or breathes together with him. For Dato, nothing is impossible.

 There are not so many pieces written for the flute - several compositions of the Baroque epoch and even fewer of the contemporary times. In a word, Dato creates music on his own.

To play music on a flute is not an easy thing at all. The simpler a musical instrument is and the less it is technically refined, the more complicated it becomes to play, and more depends on the craftsmanship of the performer. When playing this instrument, it is important to have a sophisticated technique of mastering your lips and breath.  Distinct from other wind instruments, one should not blow into the hole of the flute, but along it. Dato has worked out his own technique of blowing and moving his mouth. He has learnt to breathe with his nose, so that when playing, the sound does not stop flowing. Besides, having practiced special yoga exercises, Dato has worked out a breathing method produced directly from the diaphragm.

Dato first took a flute in his hands because of his lungs. His parents decided that a flute would help him to overcome the bronchial problems he was suffering from. And it really worked. It was also because of lung problems that he began playing tennis from the age of 6. Here, also, the results were very good. At one time he simultaneously pursued playing the flute and tennis: tennis at 7 o’clock in the morning, followed by the flute, then there was school, and in the evening tennis again. Dato inherited passion for tennis from his father, while talent for music comes from his mother’s side. His grandfather played duduki (Georgian national instrument, similar to a flute). However, the time soon came when Dato had to make his own choice. Those were Perestroika years and the chances of participating in serious international contests were very limited. In short, he put aside the racket in favour of the flute. It may be that by that decision, Georgia lost a good tennis-player. It is an obvious fact, however, that had Dato followed sports, he would not have reached such heights in music.

He mastered the flute very fast. Success came early. At the age of 11, he won the national contest of Georgia. He was 13 when his teacher arranged a concert for him in the conservatory in order to demonstrate his talent to the wider public. Then, an exception was made for the 15-year-old boy and he was allowed to take part in the international contest in Germany, along with the participants aged 18 to 35.  In 1989, Dato became a conservatory student and at 17 won the union contest. After a year, he was accepted at the Vienna Academy. Unfortunately, due to financial problems, he stayed only two months there. Later, however, his education abroad continued. Together with the Krakow Mozart Academy, he traveled around Europe for master-classes, concerts, contests and festivals. With chamber sextets, quintets and quartets, he played a rich repertoire, including classics.

This was followed by the three years in Jansugh Kakhidze’s symphonic orchestra. Dato did not leave the orchestra because of professional reasons or personal disagreement. He sensed that Kakhidze was not very happy with his passion for alternative trends in music. During that period, Dato was interested in Flamenco and he joined a group performing Latin American music. For some time, they played in the bar "Earth, Wind and Fire" on Perovskaya Street. Some people may not find it fit for a professional musician to play in front of semi-drunk bar customers.  However, Dato holds his own view on that: "People often came there to listen to me".
Then came his jazz period. The late jazz piano-player Kolya Kashakashvili had greatly contributed to this, having aroused Dato’s interest in jazz. Apart from Kolya, Dato considers the 76-year-old Frenchman Orel Nicholas as his teacher and the great James Galway, whose art prompted thousands of young people to take a flute in their hands. Dato then began performing at "David’s Jazz Club".

Currently, he is all engrossed in fusion. This trend is interesting because it does not limit itself to traditional boundaries and represents a blend of any style that a musician might wish to combine. Dato names the Irish singer Liza Gerard, who is living in the Turkish region of Australia, as a good example of cultural-fusion.
In February, Dato gave a concert in the conservatory, where he presented interpretations of Georgian folk rhythms. He subtly enriched national tunes with African, Celtic and Indian themes. "I constantly listen to this music at home, but I don’t want to just copy it", Dato says. He plays African and Celtic national wind instruments and, of course, the Georgian salamuri. He plays Asian music on his European instrument. Isn’t it impressive to hear how a flute can sound in the hands of an Asian?!
Then, I remember the solo he performed during the traditional Tbilisi Jazz Festival at a jam session in the "Metechi". On March 29, he played at Maka Asathiani’s fashion show at the "Joy Club", where he appeared in front of an absolutely different audience. It was interesting that his appearance was not only a musical accompaniment, but formed an organic, integral part of the show along with the models.

Dato’s current season turned out to be rather overloaded. In July, he had a concert in Hanover together with the famous pianist Otar Magradze’s band. During their visit in Tbilisi, three Corsican female singers recorded together with Dato a song for the Universal’s Ethnic Department. This collaboration was followed by his trip to the Corsican International Festival in October. As for himself, he thought that the Celtic Festival of Ethnic Jazz in Ireland was more significant.

Dato prefers to speak of his future plans rather than his past. He is planning to produce an album of his own. He has all the material in place and is currently looking for the best title – the kind that would compel the public to take their hands out of their pockets.

He is rather confident of himself and thinks it is very likely that a large record company will give his effort due attention.

And this is really what happened. While being in Corsica, the French became interested in his recordings. As a result, almost in a month Dato’s first album which already has its name - "Odzela", will appear in France. Unfortunately, all the copyrights on the album have been acquired by the French. And they have no plans for distributing the album in Georgia. It is Dato, again, who might bring along several copies of his disc back home, which will probably circulate among his friends. Or, otherwise, we might hope that a certain Georgian tourist, having lost his way, would incidentally step into a music shop overseas where at the sight of the native roots the sense of national pride in his mentality shall prevail over financial motives.

Before that, one can listen to Dato’s recordings in two albums of entirely different performers, the rock musician Giga Mikaberidze’s cassette "Let’s Break the Night", where in one of the compositions Dato performs an inspiring improvisation, and Otar Magradze’s compact disc "The Tatar Square", to which his flute renders light jazz cheerfulness.

Here our story ends today. However, let’s hope that the day will come soon when it will be possible to buy Dato Odzelashvili’s recordings from the shelves of the World Music departments in Western mega-stores.

BIDZINA MAKASHVILI