Home » Jazz Musicians » Artyom Yakushenko

Artyom Yakushenko

Little is known of Artyom's origins. He was born somewhere in the Gulag Archipelago, and is believed to be the love child of none other than Solzhenitsyn himself. As a tiny infant, Artyom was smuggled out of captivity inside a violin case, by a soft-hearted railroad engineer. He was soon adopted by a kind family in Angarsk, Siberia.

Young Artyom refused to sleep anywhere but his case until his torso became too long to fit inside anymore, after which he became severely withdrawn and depressed. Upon discovering an actual violin inside his case at age 6, Artyom believed the instrument to be a long-lost twin brother and formed a special bond with it. A careful observer will note that the violin seems to become part of his body when he plays; Artyom did not understand the difference between a twin and a conjoined or Siamese twin.

Awards

Best New Band, 1986, National Folk Music Festival, Novasibirsk, Siberia, USSR.

Gear

Zeta electric violin, 5-string mandolin


Tags

Primary Instrument

Violin

Location

Moscow

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Two Kings

Cool Hat Records
2011

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Videos

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