We’re bringing you more news on the events of Metallurgist Day in Satka. The jazz concert must have been the most emotional and enchanting one of those. July 16, the stage of Magnezit Cultural Center was gleaming with the light of People’s Artist of Russia Igor Butman, musicians of Moscow Jazz Orchestra and amazing soloists – singer Fantine, pianist and composer Oleg Akkuratov, and guitarist Yevgeny Pobozhiy.

It was a full house, to put it mildly. There was not a single empty spot in the hall. People had to come or drive way in advance to claim the seats. Out-of-town folk arrived at the Cultural Center as early as three hours before the start of the show! No extra chairs could have saved the day: many people still had to stand in the aisles or doorways. The performance went on for almost three hours (!) and was followed by socializing during an autograph-signing session (on the bright side, those who had to stand could move around in the rhythm of jazz). Some people even stayed in the foyer to listen without watching and made a good use of all the open doors of the concert hall.

“Congratulations, my dear friends! We are happy to celebrate Metallurgist Day with you tonight. Here you have some real metallurgical vibes! I would like to thank Magnezit Group for this opportunity to visit Satka again and perform for you,” said Igor Butman after a lasting applause that welcomed the artists, “We’ll begin our jazz program with one of the oldest pieces that practically started the entire jazz – St. Louis Blues.”

And in his own way, always with humor, Igor Butman announced the first solo musician: “Descendant of all St. Louises – Ivan Akatov!” The trumpet started playing and then the entire jazz band, giving the residents and guests of Satka an unforgettable night. This was an encounter with marvelous instrumental music, where all members of the orchestra evolved through solo performance and improvisation. The audience was particularly pleased with the vocal performance of one-of-a-kind Fantine, who charmed everyone with her unique voice, and of incredibly talented virtuoso pianist, vocalist and composer Oleg Akkuratov, whom Satka’s audience had long and much loved. The audience met their every performance, including vocal duet, with a storm of applause. And the amazing saxophone solos of Igor Butman certainly were the epicenter of the show.

The powerful energy of the audience was palpable by the end of the very first part of the show. This energy could not be subdued by a short break, and the second part of the concert became the high note of this musical night that gave the audience a variety of jazz compositions: from famous “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles and “Feelin’ Good” by Nina Simone to unexpected but still melodic and heartfelt jazz rendition of Russian folk song “How I Went When I Was Younger”. And surely, for the encore performance, the audience did not miss a beat of the famous Buratino song: “Who comes in to our home like a kind fairytale? Who’s everyone’s childhood pal?” And to the key question of the lyrics, “Will you tell us his name?!”, the grateful audience replied as one, clapping their hands and smiling joyfully: “But-man-I-gor!”

Our reporter at Magnezitovets asked Igor Butman and Fantine a few questions during the autograph-signing session. The artists gladly shared their feelings with us.

“It’s not my first time performing with Igor Butman in Satka. And I want to say that this concert is the best by far. Because of our kind-hearted audience here tonight. Their energy and affection help us overcome any fatigue – our flight arrived just this morning at 4 a.m. You want to sing better and more for such audience,” said Fantine. And, to our question about improvisation, she replied that with Igor Butman’s shows it applies not only to the instruments, but also to the jazz program itself.

“I mean, we weren’t exactly planning to perform the Buratino song tonight. When we are on stage with Igor Butman, he always adds something different to each performance. With him, jazz is unpredictable not only when it comes to improvisation, but to the program too,” said Fantine.

“Jazz and Satka is a match made long ago and forever. We came here for the first time 10 years ago, to celebrate Magnezit’s anniversary. We performed outside then, it was raining, but it was still great. Since then we’ve become friends with the company’s management and your wonderful town. Tonight has really been the coolest and most special concert, as we performed for the audience we know pretty well. We ourselves got incredible emotions and energy out of it,” says Igor Butman.

“Tonight’s jazz sounded like there were more than seven notes in music!” adds our reporter.

“Yes. Not only jazz, but all good music (classical, popular) proves again and again that these seven notes can make loads and loads of combinations. Each note sounds special when we take it next to another one.”

“When we announced the concert, we compared advanced technology to a high note. Can technology become music?”

“Good and correctly applied advanced technology is music. The “notes” in production, just like in any other field, need to be applied with the knowledge that everything has to be done for people, for their happiness and positive emotions,” replied Igor Butman.

Source: Magnezitovets. Photo by Vasily Maksimov.