Igor Butman

From April 28 to 30, St. Petersburg will host the International Jazz Day program for the first time, culminating in a grand-scale gala concert with world stars.

14 time Grammy winner Herbie Hancock, bass player and composer Marcus Miller, vocal quartet The Manhattan Transfer, saxophonist Rudresh Makhanthappa, vocalist Kurt Elling and many other outstanding musicians will perform at the all- star gala concert on the 7th International Jazz Day, April 30 , in St. Petersburg.

This was discussed in an interview with Igor Butman, the head of the Moscow Jazz Orchestra and the art co-director of the festival.

- Who are the special stars that the festival is bringing to Russia?

- There will come a legend - the art director of the gala concert, the 14 times Grammy winner and one of the most influential jazz musicians of the present - Herbie Hancock. Bass player and  composer Marcus Miller, who was the music director and author of Miles Davis' music in the last years of his life, will arrive. The Manhattan Transfer, one of the best vocal quartets in the history of jazz, whose hits are sung by the whole world, will be there. Famous American saxophonist virtuoso of Indian origin Rudresh Makhanthappa and vocalist Kurt Elling, who has been recognized one of the world's best jazz singers for many years in a row.

According to the jazzman, a technically well-equipped venue - the Mariinsky-2 Stage - will be provided for his colleagues to perform. "Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (director of the Mariinsky Theater) kindly provided us with a hall, having cancelled even a subscription concert,"- he noted.

The most famous Russian jazzmen will take part in the festival: Igor Butman himself as a soloist (saxophone) with the Moscow Jazz Orchestra, conductor and pianist Anatoly Kroll, founder of the St. Petersburg Jazz Philharmonic David Goloshchekin, pianist and vocalist Oleg Akkuratov, trumpeter Vadim Eilenkrig and drummer Oleg Butman .

Igor Butman emphasized that even as an art co-director of the Jazz Day, he could not influence the list of participants, which was approved by the festival's musical director, composer, pianist and conductor John Beasley and the team of the Telonius Monk Jazz Institute. "Even if we had provided a list and marked the names of those who was to be invited - no one would have even looked at these notes,"- he said.

The International Jazz Day was established by UNESCO in 2011 on the initiative of the American jazz pianist and composer, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. Since 2012 the celebration has been held annually on April 30. This year St. Petersburg has been chosen to be the capital city of the Jazz Day for the first time.

- The Jazz Day Festival will actually last for three days. What will it look like?

- First of all it is a gala concert and a large educational program. Since these wonderful musicians are coming, they should definitely conduct master classes, and tell us what jazz is trying to achieve today. We need to talk about our art with those who do not know jazz and want to know it from the best side. It is always pleasant to talk with fans of our music, try and tell them something new, as well as exchange opinions.

We are arranging festival concerts in outdoor venues, local jazz clubs, and educational institutions. In general, the city will live in jazz for three days, and the gala concert "All-Star Global Concert" at the Mariinsky Theatre 2 will be the culmination of the Jazz Day.

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