Asanbay Karimov (1898— 1979) — an outstanding folk professional choorchu. A self-taught musician, he captivated listeners with his playing on the traditional longitudinal wooden choor.
Asanbay was born in the village of Turk-Abad, now in the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region. According to the well-known collector of Kyrgyz folklore Buuidaibek Sabyr uulu, Karimov learned to play the choor from local shepherds and later from Narbay, the son of the famous musician Buzhura from southern Kyrgyzstan. Thus, the young choorchu became a continuer of a strong musical tradition.
During the Civil War, A. Karimov was a musician in a volunteer detachment fighting against the Basmachi. He was close to the standard-bearer, and the sound symbol of the detachment was his "Soldier's Kyu" ("Sarbaz Kuu").
Another noteworthy episode from the musician's creative activity deserves attention. Once at a toy (feast), he entered into a competition with a choorchu named Akjol and won thanks to his ability to flawlessly repeat the kyu performed by his opponent. For his phenomenal memory and performing skills, Asanbay Karimov earned the title of "chon choorchu" ("great choorchu") among the people.
A vivid example of his universal mastery is the kyu "The Lament of the Daughter of Chiybyla" ("Chiybyldyn kyzyнын кошогу") — an elaborate improvisation-poem. The Kyrgyz State Television and Radio Corporation holds recordings of about 20 kyus for choor performed by A. Karimov. Among them are "Long Kyu" ("Uzak Kuu"), "The Dark and Red-haired Girls" ("Kara kyz menen sary kyz"), "My Children, Karagul and Satygul" ("Karagul menen Satygul botom"), "My Sweetness" ("Tattiden-tatti"), "Beautiful Piece" ("Kotsur Kuu"), and others.
