Jazz keyboard virtuoso Eldar Djangirov travels to Phoenix on Friday, November 11 to share his youthful energy and compelling improvisations with guests of the MIM Music Theater. Praised by critics and jazz masters alike, the piano prodigy came to the U.S. from Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet Union when he was ten and his been impressing jazz aficionados ever since.

Signed by record label Sony Classical at the age of 17, the young pianist is well known for his prodigious pyrotechnics and precocious knowledge of the bebop tradition. Along the way, he's had the good fortune to meet and work with the masters including Dr. Billy Taylor, Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis, Marian McPartland, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Nicholas Payton, and Ron Carter. Through these opportunities and other wonderful musical experiences, Eldar continues to explore new frontiers through composing and performing, enabling him to ultimately to realize his own musical vision.

The Washington Post calls his technique "jaw dropping," and according to the late jazz master, Dr. Billy Taylor, “Eldar Djangirov's playing shows brilliancy, complexity, and discipline. . . he's serious about his music, he's thoughtful about what he does.”

Tickets are $25-$30 and may be purchased online at www.theMIM.org, by calling 480-478-6000, or onsite at the MIM Ticket Office. MIM is located at 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85050 (corner of Tatum & Mayo Blvds., just south of Loop 101).

To view the complete 2011-2012 concert season, visit www.theMIM.org. The MIM Music Theater Fall Concert Series is sponsored in part by Sanderson Lincoln, Sanderson Volvo of Phoenix, and Sanderson Ford.