Butman (centre) performs on stage. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

It was a natural decision, he notes, because the saxophone is the perfect tool for jazz improvisation with its power and deep tones. Recalling the history of jazz in Russia, he says that the genre celebrated 100 years in the country recently. “The first official jazz performance took place in Russia back in 1922. Since then, it was quite popular with many big bands performing. Post-World War II, the genre went into decline, and was even banned till 1976,” he says, adding that now the country has since witnessed an emergence of new musicians in the genre. It was during this resurgence that he found his way to the United States in 1987, and performed across some of the iconic clubs known for jazz in the country.

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.86%

AAP 41.43%

INC 25.71%

Submit

View All In Poll

While Latino jazz may have rhythm and American jazz has groove, Russian jazz has passion, the soloist explains. “The standards don’t change. I would say it is similar to American-made or Japanese-made cars. They would still have four wheels and steering. The engine, make and style are different — the same goes with jazz. Russians are passionate, and the music has feeling and soul,” he notes. This is particularly true, he says, when adapting jazz into Russian folk instruments or Russian folk music to jazz standards.

The Mumbai event of Jus Jazz, presented by Apurva Agarwal and Prashant Gupta, will also witness a throwback to an Indo-Russian connection — Bollywood. Butman shares, “We do perform several jazz standards, along with some folk songs in jazz from Russia. But we also have a song in Hindi, by our pianist, Oleg Akkuratov. We grew up listening to Bollywood songs and watching those movies. They are quite popular, and we saw so many of them. Akkuratov can sing in many languages, including Hindi, Russian and English. So, we had to play it,” he concludes. 

ON December 6; 6.30 pm 
AT Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Church Road, near Patwardhan Park, Bandra West. 
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com 
COST Rs 800 onwards