Kirill Poudavoff

Kirill (Kee-reel) Poudavoff was born on February 18th, 2000, in a small province, Astrakhan, Russian Federation. His father, Alexander, is an auto mechanic mainly specialising in restoration of vintage automobiles, and, also, a self-taught musician. Thanks to his Father, Kirill started his musical journey around 2005, learning a bit of piano, then the recorder, the clarinet, and later, the tenor saxophone at the age of 10, in 2010, at a local school of music. One of the many Kirill's early recordings with his Dad, "fly me to the moon" gained over 2'500'000 views on YouTube, and by this day, is still one of the most popular saxophone videos. 

 

Kirill's first idol was the late Aubra Graves, a gentleman who had gotten quite a bit of recognition on YouTube in the late 2000s. His sound and phrasing forever left an imprint on Kirill's style and flow of ideas. In 2016, Kirill went to a local Musical College, from which he graduated in 2020. During that period, Kirill was introduced to the music of Dexter Gordon, who, shortly afterwards, became his number one tenor and a serious influence, which led him to learning the mouthpiece craft. 

 

In 2020, Kirill was granted a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music he is currently attending. Countless performances at the Boston's iconic Wally's Jazz Cafe, many of which were recorded live, are some of the favourites hits of Kirill's fans. 

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In 2023, one of Kirill's dreams came true- with the help of the great Antoine Roney, he was introduced to Maxine Gordon, the jazz history scholar and wife to Kirill's idol, Dexter Gordon. Kirill got to perform live at Wally's with his best band for Maxine, honouring Dexter's 100th birthday and playing his signature tunes. The concert was recorded live and is, arguably, the best recording Kirill has done so far.