It does not feel stellar egocentrism. Generous in praise of people significant to him, Butman speaks sparingly about himself, almost indifferently. He is more interested in acting. The tireless musician and jazz promoter flips through an album with personal photos and comments on the most important.
Igor Butman is 47 years old. Saxophonist, composer, producer. Graduated from the Musical College. Mussorgsky in Leningrad and The Berkley College of Music in Boston. In 1989-1995 he lived in the USA. Creator and leader of the Igor Butman Big Band and the Igor Butman Quartet. Organizer of the festival “Jazz Triumph”. Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2004). In June 2009, he released a new disc Moscow@3 am on the Butman Music label.
“I prefer smiles. Even the formal
“I wanted to play jazz with the best musicians, perform all over the world, but staying in the Soviet Union was nothing to dream of. In 1989 I left for America. Like everyone who played jazz in our country, I admired the American way of life – and America turned out to be exactly what I imagined it to be. Even better. People smile all the time, even strangers say hello. Maybe it’s formal smiles. But they are much better than our informal evil faces. At The Berkley College of Music, where I studied, I was struck by the fact that students are never told, like we do: this is a good fellow, and that idiot. I started making music there. True, I played less in America than in the Soviet Union, not every day. But I learned a lot and understood a lot in music.”
- Photo Shoot:
- Vadim Gortinsky