Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on February 21, 2013

Jim Cooper / AP

Drummer Roy Haynes, seen here performing in New York in 2000, is giving the jazz festival a boost of starpower.

This weekend Moscow andSt. Petersburg will host one ofthe biggest jazz festivals inRussia, "Triumph ofJazz," which was initiated bysaxophonist andUnited Russia party member Igor Butman.

Thefestival introduced agreat number ofjazz newcomers over thelast few years, but also gave tempting opportunities toRussian jazzmen toshow their ideas andmusic both towider audiences andto American colleagues. As another timely motivation toexamine thephenomena ofRussian jazz comes toour attention, we decided tocatch up with anumber ofmusicians tounderstand what is happening tothe genre that had been asynonym tohigh treason decades before.

It is extremely difficult tocatch Igor Butman, themost well-known Russian jazz musician worldwide, aweek before his festival "Triumph ofJazz" starts. This year thefestival, which has taken place inMoscow annually since 2001, expands toSt. Petersburg.

"I basically invite those artists that seem interesting tome. My personal taste andmy understanding ofjazz forms thechoice, andthe audience, acute andknowledgeable, responds ofcourse," said Butman, who also owns arecord label andtwo clubs inMoscow. "We try not torepeat ourselves andalways invite new musicians. However, some legendary names have been inthe festival several times indifferent bands andacts."

This year thefestival welcomes jazz-funk guitarist Lee Ritenour andhis band, pianist Bill Charlap Trio andlegendary drummer Roy Haynes andhis Fountain ofYouth ensemble as headliners.

Lee Ritenour started his music career with theMamas & Papas, has appeared inover 3,000 sessions andhas recorded 42 albums. This will be his first visit toRussia.

"I have been encountering great people all over theworld who are interested inmusic ingeneral, not just my music. AndI have heard fromother musicians that there is agreat audience inRussia," he told TheMoscow Times. "I will have my eyes andears open fora dialogue with Russian people andhopefully we will enjoy spending time with each other."

Drummer Roy Haynes, 87, is another must-see artist who will perform inRussia forthe first time. He has contributed toa wide range ofgenres frombebop tofusion andavant-garde jazz. Nick-named "Snap Crackle" fora distinctive style ofplaying drums, Roy Haynes used tobe apartner ofthe legends saxophonists Lester Young andCharlie Parker andsinger Sarah Vaughan, among others. He released as many as 26 albums as aleader, andin recent years has been touring with his Fountain ofYouth band, which is made up ofyoung musicians only, becoming Haynes' own personal source ofyouth.

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Jazz to Get a Triumphant Welcome in Moscow

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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