In December 2021, the Russian-language edition of Drummer’s Diaries, a book by the legendary drummer and percussionist Vladimir Tarasov, was published. The book traces the author’s creative journey and includes extensive biographical material reflecting the cultural context of Soviet-era musicians and artists. This publication continues the long-standing collaboration and friendship between the musician and the ROSPHOTO State Museum and Exhibition Centre. Earlier, in December 2010, ROSPHOTO hosted Tarasov’s exhibition of audiovisual installations, In Between.

In 2019, Sound Paint was presented, featuring eight of Vladimir Tarasov’s most renowned audiovisual installations, in which music became a visual object — an approach the artist describes as “sound games.” These eight works were dedicated to prominent musicians and artists who were Tarasov’s close friends and collaborators, including saxophonist Larry Ochs, double bassist Mark Dresser, saxophonist and member of the GTC Trio (Ganelin, Tarasov, Chekasin) Vladimir Chekasin, and artist Yuri Dyshlenko, among others. The conceptual and thematic starting point of the exhibition was the installation The Sixties, set to music performed by Miles Davis, Glenn Gould, and Jimi Hendrix.

In 2020, Vladimir Tarasov donated his collection of Soviet art to the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. The collection, comprising more than 500 works by internationally renowned artists, was titled The Museum of Friends of Vladimir Tarasov. It became part of the museum’s permanent display and is housed in four galleries of the Radziwiłł Palace in central Vilnius. In the same year, the museum published the collection catalogue Museum of Friends. The Collection of Vladimir Tarasov in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, featuring descriptions and reproductions of the works.

This online project is dedicated to Vladimir Tarasov’s book Drummer’s Diaries. It was first published in Lithuanian as Vladimiras Tarasovas. Būgnininko dienoraščiai by the publishing house Sofoklis (Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania) in 2020. In 2021, the St. Petersburg Society “A–Ya,” with the participation of the ROSPHOTO State Museum and Exhibition Centre, republished the book in Russian (St. Petersburg, Russia). The project was carried out with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania in St. Petersburg.

The Russian-language edition is based on an adapted version of the Lithuanian publication and includes an expanded selection of photographic illustrations from Vladimir Tarasov’s personal archive. The book consists of five chapters, each marking a significant milestone in the author’s creative biography: About the Country, TRIO, About Friends, Travels, and One More Time….

This online project presents two of the five chapters — About Friends and One More Time…. In contrast to the printed edition, the online format allows the author to invite viewers to experience unique musical performances and to share rare photographs. The chapters also include additional materials, such as video recordings of concerts and installations, as well as rare photographs from performances.

“This book is a kind of ‘drumming’: a traditional drum solo that moves from one pattern to another, returns to the beginning, and then departs again — in a new direction. It is a kind of jazz weaving, where the pattern flows naturally and is not bound to chronology or specific dates. It consists of points of connection — with time, with place, with people, whose friendship and acquaintance were given to me by fate. This book is rather notes or diaries of a drummer who, thanks to fate and profession, has had the opportunity to travel across different countries.”

 Vladimir Tarasov

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Last updated on 24.03.2026