Eson Kandov

Eson Kandov (*October 31, 1941 in Tashkent) was a singer and musician from Uzbekistan with a successful career during the 1960-80s. He was awarded the distinction as Honored Artist of the Uzbek SSR in 1974 and is considered the first artist who represented the Republic of Uzbekistan on the international stage at the Sopot Festival "Sopot-73".^[1]

His albums and EPs were successfully distributed throughout the Soviet Union through the major record label Melodiya in the 1970s and 1980s.^[2][3]

He was born as the second son into a family of Bukharian Jews.^[4] His father was a teacher of the Uzbek language and his mother was a housewife who worked in the financial administration when he was young. During his childhood his maternal grandfather, who had lyrical baritone voice, and his mother often sang to him on weekends or on holidays.^[5]

After graduating from school, Eson Kandov entered the acting department of the Theater and Art Institute, and from the second year he chose to enter the Tashkent State Conservatory. At the conservatory he mainly learned classical singing. After successfully participating in a competition at the Conservatory in 1964, he was accepted as a soloist and singer in the Variety Orchestra of Uzbekistan.^[1]

His real name at birth was Isaac Ilyich Kandov, but early into his career singer Botir Zokirov suggested adopting the name Eson as it sounded more romantic and artistic. Over the 25 year long career in the Soviet Union, he grew into the name so much that he couldn’t imagine associating with different name.^[5]

Eson Kandov was among the singers who appeared as a soloist in the Estrada Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in the Uzbek Soviet Republic for state television and radio in 1963. The Estrada Orchestra consisted of a large string section, saxophones, trumpets, trombones, guitars, piano and drums, and occasionally instruments from older Uzbek music traditions.^[6] Along with singers such as Botir Zokirov, Luiza Zokirova and Elmira Urazbaeva, he is considered a co-founder of modern Uzbek pop music with traditional influences in the 1960s.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

In 1973 he represented the Soviet Union at the Sopot International Song Festival with the song “Ormonlarga konarokshom” (translated from Uzbek as “Evening falls on the forests”) in the Forest Opera, Sopot, Poland.^{[12][13][14][15]} In the same year, on the basis of the Uzbek Variety Orchestra, the Tashkent Music Hall was created, where he was the leading soloist and singer. Since 1974 he has been collaborating with the state ensemble "Yalla". With Yalla, he toured a dozen European countries as well as across all over the Soviet Union. In 1977 when the state ensemble "Navo" was formed, he became its soloist singer.^[1][5]

After he moved to Israel in 1991, he founded his own ensemble "Shirey a Olam" ("Songs of the World"), which was active until 1997.^[1][5] However, even though he had a high number of performances in Israel, he was unable to repeat the earlier big successes he had in the Soviet Union. He continued to work as a teacher and coach for young musicians.

He has one son, Gabriel, with his wife Mira, who he married in Tashkent in 1982. The family currently lives in Israel, in Petah Tikva. He has two nieces from his brother, Oleg, - Stella Kandova, who lives in New York, and Angela Pinchasov, who lives in Vienna.^[5]

• Boi, boi / Бой, бой^[18]
• Bukharian Wedding / бухарская свадьба^[19]
• Емина / Emina^[20]
• Romansi / Романсы^[21]
• Song about Tashkent / Песня о Ташкенте with Yunus Turaev and Naufal Zakirov (in 1965)^[22]