He was born in Bishkek, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union to Tatiana, a piano teacher, and Emil, a professor of mechanical engineering, and is of Volga Tatar and Russian descent.

He grew up in Kansas City, MO from the age of 10 and also lived in San Diego, California during his teenage years.

He later took classical lessons and was "discovered" at age 9 by the late New York City jazz aficionado Charles McWhorter, who saw him play at a festival in Siberia.

Eldar has been variously compared to Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock and more;[4][5] yet he also seems to absorb harmonic expansiveness from McCoy Tyner and at times the lyrical sensitivity from Bill Evans.

[6][7] Eldar performed at Grammy Awards telecast and was honored the first time in many years as a jazz artist.