One August evening in 1990, Kalken Makenbayev went for a walk with his wife, Liza. At the Okzhetpes sanatorium in Burabay they met a group of acquaintances. Among the people Makenbayev names were the composer Kenzhebek Kumysbekov and his wife, Asiya.
Makenbayev described the meeting in his essay My Elder Brother Tursyn… In his recollection, the walk became a conversation, and Kumysbekov spoke about singers and kuishi — performers of kui, the instrumental pieces of the Kazakh dombra tradition. This was how the composer remained in his companion’s memory: beside his wife, among acquaintances, talking about musicians.
The same collection contains a photograph of four people. Its caption names Kalken Makenbayev, Liza Akhankyzy, Asiya and the composer Kenzhebek Kumysbekov; it dates the image to 1990. An inscription against the rock reads: “Okzhetpes sanatorium, Borovoye, 1990.”
The memoir preserved the subject of the conversation; the photograph, four faces and a year. One August evening entered Kumysbekov’s biography as the quiet testimony of a person who was there.