Marsalis and His Russian Counterpart

[Lois Gilbert]

Marsalis and His Russian Counterpart

September 20, 2003
By BEN RATLIFF

Jazz suggests a spectrum of artistic dispositions, and
musicians all over the world take from it whatever suits
their own temperaments. Some choose vulnerability. Some
choose concentration. Some choose restlessness. And some,
like the Russian saxophonist Igor Butman, choose
invincibility.

Mr. Butman occupies a position in Russia roughly comparable
to that of Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz
at Lincoln Center. He is an adaptable, highly skilled
practitioner, and jazz's most appealing popularizer there.
Born the same year as Mr. Marsalis, 1961, he studied at
Berklee College of Music in Boston during his late 20's and
lived in New York briefly before returning to Russia. There
he has led a big band, owned a Moscow jazz club and acted
as host of a television program.

The two musicians have played together a number of times in
Russia, and to open a new season of Jazz at Lincoln Center
concerts with an international theme, Mr. Marsalis invited
Mr. Butman's entire big band to play alongside his own at
Alice Tully Hall.

That's literally alongside: two big bands on one stage, set
up as mirror images. On Thursday night, the bands
occasionally played at the same time, but more often passed
the music back and forth. It was a neat trick, and clearly
they had had enough rehearsal time to make it work. (The
concert will be repeated tonight.)

As an improviser, Mr. Butman is as much of a crowd-pleaser
as Mr. Marsalis: he stormed through his brawny post-bop
solos, even on his slow ballad "Nostalgia," showing a magnetic confidence. But Mr. Marsalis also plays with idiosyncrasy and a stubborn humor; Mr. Butman held his
in check. Introducing a piece called, in English translation, "Waterskis," he explained that jazz musicians in Russia of his generation hadnabsorbed a lot of jazz from television cartoon themes. (The piece he went on to play was an arrangement of one: a careening tone poem.) And in his case, at least, you could understand their appeal, because something of the tenacious, all-out entertainment aesthetic from 60's television pervaded his music.

It was a show of great competence and fluency: a couple of
the Russian band's star musicians, including the baritone
saxophonist Alexander Dovgopoly and the trumpeter Artem
Kovalchuk, played beautiful, hard-charging solos,
thoroughly within the time, tonality and gestural language
of mainstream, postwar big bands. This was dense,
well-wrought music: the moody harmonic motion of the reed
section within the larger group, in Vitaly Dolgov's
arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers,"
sounded like Ellington ideas embedded within the hard,
brassy shell of Maynard Ferguson's big band.

Though Russian folk melodies were used in two numbers, no
rustic qualities remained; these were jumbo-jet versions,
with dueling soloists from each band pitted against each
other, each one standing on his own side amid his seated
colleagues, like opposite goal posts. This sort of thing
was nicely done: toward the end of Ellington's up-tempo
blues "Ready, Go," the two tenor saxophonists from each
band stood up and began improvising collectively, slowly
increasing the intensity, with nothing to back them but the
band and audience clapping. The audience gave them what
they were looking for.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
he stormed through his brawny post-bop
solos, even on his slow ballad idsrc="nyt_ttl" value="104291">"Nostalgia,"

Obviously a Braxton composition.

[Lois Gilbert]

Originally posted by Pete C
Obviously a Braxton composition.

My fault that was a link from the NY Times to an image - edited and took it out

[Uli]

Great! Maybe some Butman trashing threads to fight the JC Blues.

[graypencil]

I AM curious to hear Butman and the Russian big band ..

(knowing WM, I'd assume such a costly production was
recorded, and eventually will be realeased someday ..)

BTW: somewhat off topic, but:

last night, on Oddessy channel, I was watching an OLD Montral Jazz Festival
clip featuring the OLD Marsalis Bros. Group ..( Winnie, Branford,
Kenny Kirkland, Tain ..probably Black Codes era stuff ..)

and they sounded GREAT! ( particularly WM and Branford )
they all played real inspired, in the pocket,
actual modern jazz! ..


so ....what happened ???

[RainyDay]

I caught bit of the Montreal Jazz Festival also. As soon as I saw Kenny Kirkland, I turned it off. Made me sad.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
Igor Butman,studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston during his late 20's and
lived in New York briefly before returning to Russia.

This may sound like sour grapes, but it really isn't...just an observation...most Eastern European Berklee students I've met in Eastern Europe have that swagger and "invincibility", and they parade it. No wonder that Igor has made it.

[Pete C]

There was a documentary about Jazz on Russian TV. Igor talked a lot about borscht.

[Dmitry]

Butman is indeed Wynton's counterpart - all technique, zero originality.

They'll be playing the borsht-gumbo circuit together in 20 years.

[Clay Fink]

Is this guy related to Dick Assman?

[steve(thelil)]

Excellent question. Also, lest anyone be fooled, this supposed "Igor Butman" is TOTALLY UNAFILLIATED with THE Buttman from the fine line of Buttman movies. I stopped reviewing them awhile ago, but I doubt that they surpassed the seminal "An American Buttman in London."

[frankpop1]

and they sounded GREAT! ( particularly WM and Branford )

hitfsik!
yea, i saw that footage yrs ago. i think it was after their 2nd release 'think of one' good cd and good concert. nice cover of a monk tune. however, things are already starting to look bad. all the same songs from the lp. solos almost the same. same ol story