Boris Grebenshikov «Aquarium» in Miami.

Boris Grebenshikov «Aquarium» in Miami.

Boris Grebenshikov, born in St. Petersburg in 1953, is the «founding father» of Russian rock. He is known nation-wide in Russia as B.G. and he and his band «Aquarium» (active since 1972) are a household name in Russia. He started in the 1970s with a Grateful Dead-like cult underground following, and his prolific career has seen him dubbed as Russia’s Jim Morrison, Russia’s Bob Dylan, and Russia’s David Bowie. And Aquarium itself can be compared in influence and popularity to the Beatles. Aquarium was immensely popular throughout the Soviet Union, but were still limited to playing at underground clubs and private gatherings and were not allowed to record in professional recording studios.

Gorbachev’s reform period ushered in a new era of opportunity for rock musicians. The first Aquarium music available in the West appeared in 1986 when a double album entitled «Red Wave» appeared in record stores in the U.S. Recordings of Aquarium were smuggled out of the country and released by a small record label from Hollywood. BG’s «Radio Silence», produced by Dave Sterwart, was released in 1989 by Columbia Records.

Over his career, Grebenshikov has recorded 31 albums (in the official discography), approximately 12 «unofficial ones», and about as many live records. He has recorded and sung with The Band, Henry Kaiser, Chryssie Hynde, Armenia’s famous duduk player Jivan Gasparyan, and Ian Anderson. One of his latest records was a collaboration with Robert Wyatt on «Stella Maris».

BG is also known as a lifelong student of religion and mysticism. He is has translated several Hindu and Buddhist books for publication in Russian, travelled the Orient widely, and his teacher, Sri Chinmoy, bestowed on him the name Purushottama (or «supreme being»).

Thursday, December 14, 2017. Doors at 8pm, the сoncert at 9pm. Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 Northwest 11th Place, Lauderhill, FL 33311.
Tickets: from $50 to $130.