Childhood and family of Igor Butman
After graduating from classical music school, Butman continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Music College. M. P. Mussorgsky. During his studies, he began to study jazz, being confident that it was jazz that could give him creative freedom, true aesthetic pleasure, allow him to experiment, improvise, improve arrangements and best express his individuality and himself.He also graduated from Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, qualifying as a composer and saxophonist.
The first groups of Igor Butman
As a student, Igor worked in the St. Petersburg jazz club “Kvadrat”, in the Goloshchekin Ensemble, Oleg Lundstrem’s jazz orchestra, and in the Moscow ensemble Allegro created by Nikolai Levinovsky. In the 1980s he collaborated with rock and jazz musician Sergei Kuryokhin, Aquarium and Kino.In those years, jazz was not welcomed by Russian officials. Once, after a brilliant performance, the American actress Pearl Bailey kissed him in delight, Butman was invited “on the carpet” to the KGB, as a person who had lost his Komsomol honor. But, according to the unspoken assessment of music critics, already in 1985 Butman was considered the best musician in Russia in the jazz mainstream.
He performed as a guest soloist in orchestras, organized tours, invited leading American performers to Russia - New York vibraphonist Joe Locke, pianist and successful solo artist Joe Calderazzo, incomparable bassist Eddie Gomez (the result was the Jazz 4x4 CD with Butman and Andrey Kondakov, Falling Out together with Butman).
In 1993 he began releasing his albums. In 1997-1998 organized independent jazz festivals in the capital. Prepared and performed “Duet for voice and saxophone. Joseph Brodsky" with Mikhail Kozakov. In 1998 he created the Four Brothers group, which included his brother Oleg and brothers Mikhail and Andrey Ivanov, and in 1999 - his own Big Band.
World fame of jazzman - Butman
He performed jazz in the famous concert hall “Carnegie Hall”, the largest cultural “Lincoln Center”, the Birdland club, which Larisa Dolina calls the jazz Mecca of New York. On Taganka he founded Le Club, then the Igor Butman Club. In collaboration with Larisa Dolina, he created the project “Jazz Carnival”. He gave triumphant concerts with him in Israel, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. For him and the annual forum “Triumph of Jazz” the musician received the title of Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation.Hosted television programs Good Morning America, Jazzophrenia, The Today Show. Repeatedly received the annual professional award of the association of journalists of the capital "Jazz" Ear. In 2000 he played for the leaders of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the USA Bill Clinton, in 2002 - for the Chairman of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin. Written and performed with Big Ben musical composition for the play “Playing Strindberg Blues”.
In 2003, as recognition from the American public, Butman's band was invited and performed with a jazz orchestra led by Marsalis, receiving high praise in the press. In 2005, he was awarded the title “Person of the Year – 5765” by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.
In 2006, at the invitation of Ilya Averbukh, he participated in the television project “Stars on Ice” together with Maria Petrova. In 2009 - in " Ice Age"with Bulgarian figure skater Albena Denkova. Since 2012, Igor Butman has headed the Moscow Jazz Orchestra. He also leads the quartet, which is the rhythm section of the Big Band. The members of the quartet are pianist, jazzman and composer Nikolai Levinovsky, double bassist and one of the most sought-after accompanists Vitaly Solomonov, and versatile percussionist Edaurd Zizak.
Family and personal hobbies of Igor Butman
Igor Mikhailovich is married for the second time. His current wife Oksana is a designer. She recalls a funny thing that happened to her during Igor’s performance. She amused the audience and the musicians when, after Butman’s solo, she delightedly rushed onto the stage with a bouquet, not realizing in her excitement that the instrumental composition was not yet finished. Then he arranged for her, together with Irina Otieva and Andrei Makarevich’s rock band “Time Machine,” to travel to the jazz festival in New York. There he came to her hotel with flowers and proposed marriage. And, having received consent, he demanded that she immediately call her parents and report future wedding. The couple has a son, Daniel. 
Butman's first wife, Eileen, is American. They also met at one of the concert performances Igor in 1980. The girl at that time was a student and studied Russian in St. Petersburg. From this marriage Butman has a son, Mark.
Igor loves to play hockey with friends - this game comes second in his list of passions, of course, after jazz. At one time he was a member of the youth team of the SKA Leningrad hockey club. He also likes tennis and football. In interviews he has repeatedly admitted that he considers himself to be a true lover of Japanese, Thai and Chinese cuisine. He prefers to spend his holidays in Italy. At home he mostly does nothing - watches TV, sleeps and eats. And he is not interested in and is not keen on matters from the men’s category. He jokes that he doesn’t drive nails - he’s just sure that he’ll have to break them later.
Since 2008, the successful musician has been a member of the political party " United Russia" He wants to benefit his native country. In 2012, he was a proxy approved by the Central Election Commission of Vladimir Putin as a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation. In 2014, he signed the Appeal of cultural figures of the Russian Federation in support of Vladimir Putin’s policies on Ukraine and Crimea. He is involved in charity work, organizes festivals, and is always open to cooperation and new ideas.
Director
People's Artist of the Russian Federation
People's Artist of the Russian Federation Igor Butman was born in 1961 in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). At the age of 11 he began playing the clarinet in the nursery music school. At the same time, Igor took up hockey seriously, and even played for the SKA Leningrad youth team. However, he still made a choice in favor of music, and in 1976 he entered the music school named after. Mussorgsky in saxophone class. While still a student, Igor began playing in David Goloshchekin's ensemble. Around the same time, Igor Butman participated in concerts and recordings of Sergei Kuryokhin's Popular Mechanics, as well as the Kino and Aquarium groups.
Igor received his first recognition from jazz critics in 1981: in the newspaper “Soviet Youth” he was named “Discovery of the Year”.
In 1983 he performed in Oleg Lundstrem's orchestra, the best big band in the USSR. The following year, Igor changed his alto saxophone to tenor and was invited by Nikolai Levinovsky to the Allegro ensemble, in which he played until leaving for America. In the Soviet Union, a country of more than 300 million people, Igor Butman was considered the best tenor saxophonist, according to polls of jazz critics.
When Igor came to America at the age of 26, he already had his own fan club, formed from the most famous and respected American jazzmen. So, back in the Soviet Union, Igor was invited to play by touring American musicians: Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Gary Burton, Louis Bellson and Grover Washington. In September 1987 Igor Butman entered The Berklee College of Music, where he received a diploma in two specialties: concert saxophonist and composer. Grover Washington liked the composition "French Connection", written by Igor during his studies, and he included it in his album "Then & Now" (Colombia, 1987), in the recording of which Igor took part. Igor Butman performed with the Grover Washington Ensemble at many jazz festivals, as well as in the most prestigious jazz club “Blue Note” in New York.
Igor's career in the United States developed rapidly. He performed with his group at a leading jazz club in Boston, played with Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Artie Shepp, Rachel Zee, as well as with the Billy Taylor Quartet, Walter Davis Quartet and the Monty Alexander Quintet as a special guest soloist. Famous actor and musician Michael Moriarty invited Igor to his quintet. The result of this collaboration was the release of the album "Live at Fat Tuesday" on DRG Records. Igor Butman took part in American television programs "The Today Show" CBS, "Good Morning America" ABC.
In 1989, Igor Butman moved to New York, where he began performing with the orchestra of the famous vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. In 1993 The New York label Impromptu released Igor Butman's first solo album, Falling Out, featuring pianist Lyle Mays, double bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith.
In 1992, Igor performed in Moscow at an international jazz festival for the first time since emigrating.
In May 1995, Igor Butman was honored to speak in the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin in front of the Presidents of the United States and Russia - Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.
In December 1996, in New York, Igor Butman produced and participated in the recording of the album “Blues for Four” by St. Petersburg pianist Andrei Kondakov with the participation of double bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Lenny White. In April of the following year, this quartet toured the cities of Russia, which resulted in the release of the album “Jazz for Four” by Soyuz in the fall of 1997.
In 1997 and 1998 Igor Butman acted as a producer and organizer of Independent Jazz Festivals in Moscow with the participation of Russian and foreign musicians. The Kommersant-Daily newspaper wrote: “Igor Butman single-handedly managed to do what neither old creative unions, nor new associations and jazz clubs were capable of. Namely: to establish a regular creative exchange between Moscow and New York jazz circles.” .
In August 1997, Igor's second solo album "Nostalgia", recorded at RPM Studio in New York and released by Soyuz. immediately became the sales leader among jazz CDs, and the video clip of the same name took second place in the Canadian television chart Bravo!Canada.
In March 1999, Igor Butman organized his own orchestra, Igor Butman Jazz Orchestra, bringing together the best jazz musicians Russia. Simultaneously with the orchestra, the Igor Butman Quartet emerged, in which today pianist Anton Baronin, double bassist Vitaly Solomonov and drummer Eduard Zizak play. In June 2000, the saxophonist played for Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Bill Clinton. The latter described his impression of Igor’s performance in the book “My Life” as follows: “In the finale, on a stage immersed in darkness, my favorite living jazz tenor saxophonist, Igor Butman, played. John Podesta, who loved jazz no less than I admit that I have never heard a better performance "live". row with legendary musicians Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Nina Simone.
The joint performances of the Igor Butman Jazz Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra conducted by Wynton Marsalis, which took place on September 18 and 20, 2003 at the opening of the new jazz season at Lincoln Center in New York, became an incredible sensation. For the first time in the history of Russian jazz, a concert of such high level and scale. The New York Times wrote in its review that Igor Butman's big band showed "excellent competence and fluency." The orchestra’s albums also earned high praise from critics and jazz lovers around the world: “The Eternal Triangle” (2003), which included original compositions written by Igor Butman and arranged by Vitaly Dolgov, as well as “Moscow @ 3am” (2009) and “Sheherazade's Tales”, created by the Igor Butman Orchestra together with the outstanding composer and arranger Nikolai Levinovsky and a number of foreign stars (the discs feature solos by Wynton Marsalis, Peter Bernstein, Sean Jones and other musicians).
Igor Butman became the first Russian jazz musician to release his album on Universal Music Russia. The presentation of the saxophonist's album "Prophecy" ("Prophecy"), recorded in America during the tour of the Igor Butman quartet and released on Universal Music Russia, took place at the jazz clubs "Birdland" in New York and "Le Club" in Moscow in June 2003 of the year.
In 2003-2004, Igor Butman performed with such world stars as Ray Charles, George Benson, Al Jero.
In 2007, it was released on the Sony Classical label. legendary album Igor Butman “Funny Stories” (in the foreign version - “Magic Land”), recorded with Chick Corea, John Patitucci, Stephon Harris, Randy Brecker and Jack DeJohnette. In 2009, the saxophonist received a gold disc from the National Federation of Phonogram Producers for selling more than 15,000 copies of the album in Russia. In Europe and the USA, more than 10,000 copies of the recording were sold (not to mention the number of downloads of the album from iTunes, AmazonMP3 and other online stores).
Igor Butman is not only a recognized musician, but also a successful producer. Since 2000, Igor has been holding the largest Russian jazz festival “Triumph of Jazz”, at which real jazz legends performed for the first time in our country: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gary Burton, Larry Corriell, Toots Tielemans, “TAKE 6”, Joe Lovano, Billy Cobham, Gino Vannelli, Joy DiFrancesco, Ahmad Jamal, Randy Brecker. The musician also produces the annual international festival“Aqua Jazz”, taking place as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
Igor Butman runs his own record label Butman Music, which releases albums of Russian-American jazz projects, and is the art director of two jazz centers in Moscow - the Igor Butman Clubs on Taganka and Mendeleevskaya. Igor Butman's clubs in 2013 and 2014 were included in the top 150 best jazz clubs in the world according to Downbeat magazine.
For five years, Igor was the TV presenter of the “Jazophrenia” program on the “Culture” channel.
Igor Butman performed in various projects, including with violist Yuri Bashmet and his Moscow Soloists orchestra, with symphony orchestras, opera prima Elena Obraztsova, in theatrical productions Mikhail Kozakov, recorded music for many films. Larisa Dolina and the Igor Butman Orchestra created two jazz concert programs, with which they toured cities in Russia and the world, and also released a CD and DVD.
For his outstanding contribution to the development of music in June 2004, Igor Butman was awarded the title of State Prize Laureate Russian Federation in the field of literature and art, and in October 2011, President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev awarded the musician the title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation.
Since May 15, 2017 - Director of the State Budgetary Professional Educational Institution of Moscow "State School (College) of Wind Arts."
Telephone:(+7 495) 792-21-09
The best big band in the country continues the tradition of the famous club Mondays!
In 1999, saxophonist Igor Butman and arranger Vitaly Dolgov formed the legendary Igor Butman Jazz Orchestra, which has since been actively touring in Russia, Europe and the USA. The orchestra has repeatedly performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the legendary jazz club Birdland and other equally prestigious concert venues around the world.
A sensation for the entire jazz world was the joint performance in September 2003 of the Igor Butman Jazz Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra conducted by Wynton Marsalis at the opening of the jazz season at Lincoln Center in New York. At these sold-out concerts, original compositions by Marsalis and Butman, jazz standards were performed, as well as pieces specially arranged for two orchestras: “Polyushko-Pole”, “Evening on the Roadstead” and “Water Skiing” from the cartoon “Well, Just Wait!”. The New York Times wrote in its review that Igor Butman's orchestra showed “excellent competence and fluency.”
World-famous jazzmen were delighted with joint performances with the Igor Butman Jazz Orchestra, among them Dee Dee Bridgewater, the New York Voices vocal quartet, Kevin Mahogany, George Benson, Gino Vanelli, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Corriell, Billy Cobham, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Gary Burton, Toots Tielemans.
The director of the orchestra, Igor Butman, does not limit himself to the jazz mainstream and loves to create crossover projects: the Igor Butman Jazz Orchestra often tours with the American pianist and composer Igor Raikhelson, Grammy Award winner violist Yuri Bashmet and his chamber ensemble “Moscow Soloists”. In 2009, they took a big tour of US cities.
The Big Band's first album, “Eternal Triangle,” featuring the famous American trumpeter Randy Brecker, was recorded in August 2003 in Moscow and mixed by the best American jazz sound engineer James Farber in November 2003 in New York. Eternal Triangle set an extremely high bar for performance and sound quality for all Russian jazz. This is confirmed by the fact that music from the not yet released album has already been heard on many jazz radio stations in America.
The orchestra's second album, “Moscow@3am,” appeared in June 2009 on the Butman Music label. It presents the music of one of the most gifted jazz composers of our time, Nikolai Levinovsky. It should be noted that perhaps the most famous American jazz musician, the excellent trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, took part in the recording of the album - by the way, his trumpet solo is heard in the play Russian Passion.
In 2010, at the Chereshnevy Les festival in Moscow, Igor Butman’s jazz orchestra performed the cycle “Sheherazade’s tales” with the participation of famous New York jazzmen - trumpeter Sean Jones, guitarist Peter Bernstein, vocalist Katie Jenkins and trombonist James Burton. The cycle includes famous Russian romances and the symphonic suite “Scheherazade” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in a jazz arrangement by Nikolai Levinovsky. It is not surprising that such a non-trivial fusion of classical and jazz became a real revelation for the public and the press. - Indeed, no one has ever connected such polar worlds so successfully and wittily before! The live album “Sheherazade’s tales,” recorded at the concert, was released in November on the Butman Music label.
In 2012, the Moscow government awarded the Igor Butman Orchestra the title of “Moscow Jazz Orchestra”.
In November 2013, the recording company “Butman Music” presented a new sensational album “Special Opinion” by Igor Butman, Nikolai Levinovsky and the Moscow Jazz Orchestra! The fourth work in the Orchestra's discography was recorded in New York in January 2013 together with American superstars: drummer Dave Weckl, guitarists Mike Stern and Mitch Stein, saxophonist Bill Evans, trumpeter Randy Brecker and bassist Tom Kennedy.
Kurt Elling and the Igor Butman Orchestra at Zaryadye
Above the Barriers - 2 Moscow Orchestra of Igor Butman and Ekaterina Astashova
In 1999, saxophonist Igor Butman formed his legendary Igor Butman Orchestra, which has since been actively touring in Russia, Europe and the USA. The big band has repeatedly performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the legendary jazz club Birdland and other equally prestigious concert venues around the world. In 2012, the Igor Butman Orchestra was awarded the title of the Moscow State Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Igor Butman. A sensation for the entire jazz world was the joint performance in September 2003 of the Igor Butman Big Band and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra conducted by Wynton Marsalis at the opening of the jazz season at Lincoln Center in New York. At these sold-out concerts, original compositions by Marsalis and Butman, jazz standards were performed, as well as pieces specially arranged for two orchestras: “Polyushko-Pole”, “Evening on the Roadstead” and “Water Skiing” from the cartoon “Well, Just Wait!”. The New York Times wrote in its review that Igor Butman's Big Band showed "excellent competence and fluency." The Big Band's first album, “Eternal Triangle,” featuring the famous American trumpeter Randy Brecker, was recorded in August 2003 in Moscow and mixed by the best American jazz sound engineer James Farber in November 2003 in New York. Eternal Triangle set an extremely high bar for performance and sound quality for all Russian jazz. This is confirmed by the fact that music from the not yet released album has already been heard on many jazz radio stations in America. World-famous jazzmen were delighted with joint performances with the Igor Butman Big Band, among them Dee Dee Bridgewater, the New York Voices vocal quartet, Kevin Mahogany, George Benson, Gino Vanelli, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Corriell, Billy Cobham, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Gary Burton, Toots Tielemans. Igor Butman’s big band, together with People’s Artist of Russia Larisa Dolina, created the concert program “Jazz Carnival”, which they successfully performed in Moscow, as well as in other cities of Russia, Ukraine, Israel and America. In 2003, the double album “Jazz Carnival” was released, recorded during concerts in the “Russia” hall. Premiere new program“Carnival of Jazz 2. No comments” took place in July 2008 on the stage of Lincoln Center as part of the JVC Jazz Festival and caused a stir among jazz fans in New York: the Rose Theater could barely accommodate everyone who wanted to attend the concerts.
The director of the orchestra, Igor Butman, does not limit himself to the jazz mainstream and loves to create crossover projects: the Big Band often tours with American pianist and composer Igor Raikhelson, Grammy Award winner violist Yuri Bashmet and his chamber ensemble “Moscow Soloists”. In February 2009, the musicians made a big tour by US cities. Performances took place in the most famous concert halls in the country (Seattle Symphony Hall, BSO Hall, Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center, Orchestra Hall of Chicago Symphony Center and others). The tour can be called a real triumph: more than 20,000 people attended the concerts!
In June 2009, the Butman Music label released a new Big Band album “Moscow@3am”, which presents the music of one of the most gifted jazz composers of our time, Nikolai Levinovsky. It should be noted that perhaps the most famous American jazz musician, the excellent trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, took part in the recording of the album. By the way, his trumpet solo is heard in the play “Russian Passion”. In 2010, at the Chereshnevy Les festival in Moscow, Igor Butman’s jazz orchestra performed the cycle “Sheherazade’s tales” with the participation of famous New York jazzmen - trumpeter Sean Jones, guitarist Peter Bernstein, vocalist Katie Jenkins and trombonist James Burton. The cycle includes famous Russian romances and the symphonic suite “Scheherazade” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in a jazz arrangement by Nikolai Levinovsky. It is not surprising that such a non-trivial fusion of classical and jazz became a real revelation for the public and the press; indeed, no one before had so successfully and wittily connected such polar worlds! The live album “Sheherazade’s tales”, recorded at the concert, was released in November 2011 on the Butman Music label. In February 2012, the album “Sheherazade’s tales” was released in limited edition on vinyl.
In July 2013, the Moscow Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Igor Butman made a large tour of Europe and will perform at the largest jazz festivals: Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, Jazz a Juan in France, Wigan Jazz Festival in the UK. The orchestra's tours in the United States are planned for September 2013 and January 2014.
In November 2013, Butman Music Records released a new sensational work "Special Opinion" by Nikolai Levinovsky and the Moscow Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Igor Butman, recorded at Avatar Studios in New York in January 2013 with fusion and jazz-rock superstars drummer Dave Weckl, guitarists Mike Stern and Mitch Stine, saxophonist Bill Evans, trumpeter Randy Brecker and bassist Tom Kennedy.
Over the past five years alone, the Orchestra, called a “constellation of virtuosos” by the famous JazzTimes magazine, has given more than 500 concerts in Russia, and has also performed repeatedly in South Korea, India, China, Italy, Canada, France, Great Britain, Latvia, Germany and the USA . The orchestra has performed at the best concert venues on the planet with such jazz legends as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Natalie Cole, New York Voices, Kevin Mahogany, George Benson, Gino Vanelli, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Corriell, Billy Cobham, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Gary Burton, Toots Tielemans, Patti Austin and many others.
In 2019, the Moscow Jazz Orchestra is a legendary group led by People's Artist Russia's Igor Butman celebrates his 20th Anniversary. Today, some of the best jazz musicians in the country play in the Orchestra. Over the years of its existence, the group has established itself as one of the leading orchestras in the world and the main catalyst for the development of jazz art in Russia.
For 20 years, musicians have regularly represented our country at the most prestigious festivals in Europe, Asia and America. In October 2017, the orchestra was chosen as the headliner World Festival youth and students. In 2018, the Big Band became the first orchestra in the world to perform at the main jazz event on the planet - the All-Star Global Concert International Day Jazz.