Oleg Kireev. Jazz stories of Oleg Kireev

Oleg Kireev- a well-known and versatile saxophonist in Russian jazz, is perhaps the only patron of such a musical direction as ethno-jazz. With the help of his creativity, he has been tirelessly promoting this original and diverse music for two decades, experimenting in the field of ethno-jazz rock.

The jazz band Orlan, founded by Oleg in 1986, conquered the Soviet Union with its originality, making its debut at the festival in Kuibyshev. The appeal and interest in folk music is not accidental, because, having been born in Bashkiria, Oleg and the entire composition of his quintet were fascinated from childhood by the rich sound of national instruments - kubyz and kurai, inspired by the incredible influence of ancient throat singing present in the traditions of the Buddhist peoples living in the neighborhood .

Ethnic music, telling about endless expanses, fundamentally addressing the depths of the human being, merged incomparably and vividly with the improvisational free nature of jazz. In a musical frenzy, developing the ideas of synthesis, Orlan's programs could include arrangements of The Beatles' melodies and the ensemble members' own compositions. Having become a folk group of Bashkiria in 1988, the musicians released their first release, “Bashkir Legends,” in 1989 on a record label, while simultaneously successfully performing at domestic festivals throughout the country.

A tour in Poland in 1991 became the last performances for the jazz group, until Orlan got back together in 2011. After so many years, the core reunited during a music festival in Ufa. In addition to Oleg Kireev, musicians from the Orlan lineup of the late 1980s took part in the recording of the new album (trumpet player Rustem Galiullin, bassist Oleg Yangurov and drummer Rustem Karimov) and new members of the ensemble - keyboardists Vladislav Senchillo and Ruslan Yanbaev and percussionist Ruslan Kapitonov.

The title of the new album, “Bashkir Caravan,” of course, appeals to music connoisseurs, linking this work with traditional jazz. However, you won’t find direct quotes or familiar melodies there. But you will find melting jazz in the cauldron of ethnic music - that is, the riot and dynamics of what is commonly called fusion. Especially the main composition “Bashkir Caravan” seems to become a magical mirage, a vision, hypnotizing the listener with its oriental pensive theme and Kireev’s throat singing, and unfolding a musical canvas of unexpectedly intertwining sounds of saxophone and trumpet. Following, without slowing down, “Tatar Dance” with its cheerful melody and avant-garde sound of Oleg appears before the listener in all the glory and victoriousness of an unconditional hit. Two tracks written by Rustem Galiullin (“Salavat” and “Kuvash Kupere”) are different from all the others; here funk breaks through in the trumpet parts, creating unstoppable and flexible musical pirouettes.

List of participants:
Oleg Kireev (saxophones, vocals)
Rustem Galiullin (trumpet)
Vladislav Senchillo (keyboards)
Rustem Karimov (drums)
Oleg Yangurov (bass guitar)
Ruslan Kapitonov (percussion)

Oleg Kireyev - "Galaxy"
Miras Art, 2006
The new album of saxophonist Oleg Kireev continues the line of his popular recordings "Love Letters" and "Mandala". It’s hard to doubt Oleg’s sincerity when he says: “I always take a step towards the audience. I like it much better when people dance at my concerts rather than sit with a serious expression on their faces.” The rules of the game in this area are set on a global scale, and Oleg tries to follow them - adding, however, his own flavor of ethnic lines of Tatar, Moldavian, African and other origins. In addition to the usual composition of Kireev's ensemble of recent years, which includes guitarist Valery Panfilov, bass guitarist Viktor Matyukhin, drummer Ildar Nafigov and Senegalese percussionist N'Jaga Sambe, guests also participated in the recording of the disc - keyboardist Valery Belikov, accordionist Mikhail Smirnov (son of guitarist Ivan Smirnova) and the French poet Bruno Niver, famous in Moscow bohemian circles.

The name of saxophonist Oleg Kireev has been known on the jazz scene since 1984. With his jazz group "ORLAN" he traveled throughout the Soviet Union from Novosibirsk to Riga, participated in many jazz festivals, both in the country and abroad.
In 1989, the All-Union Recording Company "Melodiya" released the album "Oleg Kireev's Ensemble "ORLAN" with his original compositions. This was followed by a series of foreign trips. Oleg stayed in Poland for quite a long time, working with leading Polish jazzmen.
In 1994, upon returning to Russia, he recorded a new solo album, “Romantic”. In the same year, at the invitation of the famous American saxophonist Bud Shank, Oleg went to study in the USA, where he took part in the Seattle Jazz Festival, performing with Hal Galper, Dave Pack, Steve Ellington and others.
In the spring of 1995, at Arton and Govi ​​Records (Poland), Oleg Kireev recorded the CD "Song for Sonny" together with famous Polish musicians Joachim Menzel (piano) and Kazimir Jonkisz (drums). The fourth participant was bassist Arkady Ovrutsky from Moscow.
In July 1996, Oleg Kireev's quartet, having performed at the XXX International Jazz Festival in Montreux (Switzerland), was awarded a diploma "For Outstanding Performance".
In 1997, a new musical program “Love Letters” was created, consisting of new original compositions by Oleg Kireev. In the summer of the same year, he received an invitation to the UK to the Birmingham Jazz Festival, where he performed in the ensembles of Ray Alexander (USA), Andy Hamilton (England) and the Happy Seals group (France).
At the end of the festival, Oleg received an invitation to London to the Ealing Jazz Festival, while simultaneously performing on jazz stages in other UK cities. The ensembles with which Oleg works as a soloist include such names as Jean Toisson, Dick Pierce, Harry Boludin and other English jazz stars. During this tour the concert "Life in England" was written.
For a number of years, Oleg Kireev has also been actively collaborating with such leading Russian jazz musicians as Daniil Kramer, Lev Kushnir, Evgeny Ryabov, Grigory Fain, Alexander Vinitsky and others. Performs in jazz clubs in Russia, Poland, Finland, USA, England. The musician's repertoire covers almost all genres of jazz music. Currently, Oleg Kireev works primarily in the style of traditional jazz.
In August 1998, Oleg, together with his musical partner, guitarist Alexander Vinitsky, was in a serious car accident in the Moscow region. Several months in a hospital bed, then a difficult recovery period, put Oleg out of action for a long time. However, already in February 1999, he was able to return to Ufa, where he held another jazz festival, and on May 20, 1999, he celebrated his return to duty with a creative evening “Oleg Kireev and True Friends” at the Central House of Artists (Moscow).
In the fall of 1999, Oleg toured Russia together with American saxophonist Mike Ellis (Mordvinov). The Moscow concert of the tour was preceded by a chat with Oleg and Mike on the Jazz in Russia server.
Since January 2000, Oleg has been constantly participating in performances of the project “Second Approximation” by pianist Andrei Razin.
In the fall of 2000, Oleg released a number of albums in Russia: his new work in the ethno-fusion style “Love Letters” - on the Landy Star label, re-released the album “Song For Sonny” on the Jazzland / Russian Series label and released his new one on the same label working with guitarist Alexander Vinitsky.

"The Russian saxophonist has gained a reputation as a powerful, swinging musician with high energy."

The Express Star, England

"Revolutionary Russian musician Oleg Kireev is a surprise at the Birmingham Jazz Festival, an extraordinary tenorist."

The Evening Mail, England

“In Oleg Kireev’s playing one can hear a surprisingly harmonious combination of styles, from jazz of the 20s to the music of John Coltrane.”

Oleg Kireev- Russian jazz saxophonist, People's Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Grammy Award nominee in 2008, frequent guest at domestic and foreign jazz festivals.

"Jazz stories" for everyone

A series of concerts - Oleg Kireev's Jazz Stories - exists and has been held for several years at the Moscow Philharmonic in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. The event is a constant success - as a rule, subscriptions are booked for 2 years in advance.

Since 2015, the concert format of the same name has also started in Ufa, the musician’s hometown, but the thematic part of the project differs from Moscow.

In Moscow we are starting a project with the concert host, jazz observer Mikhail Mitropolsky, and in Ufa we are showing a 7-minute film, each time new for the chosen topic, and Mikhail Mitropolsky is also preparing it.

Concerts are positioned as events for the whole family and have a socio-cultural orientation. A large number of invitation cards are received by students, low-income groups, as well as children. The idea of ​​the concert is to conduct an excursion into jazz history with the purpose of enlightenment, education, but unobtrusively and tastefully. The repertoire of these programs will include, first of all, such well-known compositions as Corcovado, Summertime and many other famous standards.

"Jazz Stories" turns to the work of the great jazz figures who created an entire style or genre era, such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and others.

Often performing at various venues, the musician realized that many of the spectators often do not know either styles or trends in music and just come to listen to a specific performer. I wanted to change this situation, and as a result, “Jazz Stories” appeared.

Not only colleagues - famous Russian musicians, but also guests from other countries will help Oleg Kireev in his noble endeavor. By the way, Oleg has long become known among foreign jazz performers, thanks to repeated collaborations and joint concerts with them, both solo and taking part in international music festivals.

The concept of this project implies high performance by musicians, but their personalization is not primary, that is, the main condition of the project participants is mastery of various styles at the highest level. Therefore, our composition is almost always the same, but there are also special guests, for example, a program dedicated to jazz vocalists was presented by Sharon Clarke, who came specially from America.

In the future, Oleg has a dream - to bring special guests from America - the country where jazz was born. In addition, the project’s ideas include the idea of ​​​​sounding a crossover on stage (author’s note - music in which two different styles are mixed), for example, classical and jazz, jazz and rock music. The musician is very interested in the topic of ethnic instruments in jazz. Having extensive joint experience of performing with Americans, Oleg plans to show these projects in the USA next season.

With great enthusiasm, Oleg Kireev speaks about continuation in all forms, including in journalism, especially, the author clarifies, they can tell jazz stories endlessly! The saxophonist also shared the themes included in the concerts:

We recently played programs dedicated to the works of George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, and the “Musical World of Brazil” and “Ethnics in Jazz” concerts were also brilliant.

Oleg Kireev about inspiration

For every musician, it is extremely important to have inspiration for creation and proper motivation in creativity. Oleg Kireev shared his impressions of what primarily helped him in creating his own music and developing his style, presentation and musical flair.

“From my youth, I fell in love with good music, first of all, that which has a pronounced melody, but when I realized that jazz was my music, then idols began to appear. These are saxophonists and pianists such as John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Michael Brecker, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock. Miles Davis also influenced my taste.

By the way, as a continuation of my jazz stories a new project “Jazz for Children and More!” has been launched! It is a great success, at these concerts children get acquainted with jazz and musical instruments, we also play music from cartoons for children. At our concerts, we initiate the viewer into jazz, tell them the differences between genres and introduce them to the work of geniuses of the 20th century.

I have been promoting jazz music all my life, and concerts of the same name became a logical continuation.

-- Oleg, tell us, what musical genres are you most interested in working in recently?

All my life I have loved and played music that has a melody. Be it ethno-jazz or standard jazz. Of course, I base this on the composition of my colleagues and the way of thinking of my comrades. With Americans you play mainstream jazz, but with my long-term partner, Evgeniy Grechishchev, I play in any configuration, from a duet to a band. With my ethno-jazz ensemble "Orlan" - everything your heart desires: such is the level of the musicians. By the way, “Orlan” will be 30 years old next year.

— Please tell us how your club programs differ from concerts in large halls and how the festival programs are unique? How does public reception vary depending on the type of venue?

Both the musicians and the audience, of course, change all the time. You cannot compare people coming in the 20th century and the 21st. The main problem now is the problem of information oversaturation.

In my opinion, the information flow has completely changed and even corrupted the listener with the availability of both good music and, in huge quantities, pop music. This made communication between the jazz/classical musician and the new listener quite separate from each other. This process began, of course, earlier - probably in the late forties, when music began to develop. At the same time, high-quality music remained a special world for advanced listeners, and the revolutionary musicians themselves played each concert backhand, as if it were the last time.

Nowadays, musicians rarely burn out while playing or pumping themselves up with stimulants... And the public is ready to swallow another “product” and immediately forget.

As for different venues, in club concerts, of course, there is a more intimate atmosphere, where you constantly see the emotions of the listeners very close to you and have the opportunity to evaluate the reaction to your performance at arm's length. Accordingly, the atmosphere of a big concert has a different audience and a different demand for the artist. There are, of course, difficulties in capturing a large audience... sound quality comes to the fore. Like in MMDM, where my concert will take place on November 16th.

- Oleg, how do you feel about the saying “An artist must be hungry”? Doesn't the creator's well-being corrupt?

An artist must be hungry, but he always wants to eat... I think in the modern world where food is no longer a problem, you need to remain creatively hungry and here a big dilemma arises. It existed before, but for example, in Soviet times it was solved precisely thanks to the social system. So, for example, Dovlatov and similar outstanding compatriots could realize their creative potential by simply hanging out in various publications or, in extreme cases, working as janitors or stokers. Dovlatov, I think, dreamed of fame, of course, and of material well-being, but the main thing remained the gift of writing.

- I think the proverb hardly means hunger in the literal sense, maybe it’s more about luxury? About the increase in requests for comfort, which requires more and more momentum in the profession, greater focus on a wide audience.

Man is weak, and life is fleeting and raises many questions. Including material ones. But here everyone makes their own choice - to play with a pop artist, earning their bread and butter, or to remain a faithful servant of art - although there is a high probability that in this way the issues of personal organization will remain at the same level as before. As they say, art requires sacrifice.

Of course, ideally, a performing musician works amazingly and arranges his life well - I think there are many such examples. Both among classical opera singers and among pop singers. Sting, for example, Stevie Wonder, Sade, Hvorostovsky and the list goes on. But... there are only a few of them. So I don’t have an answer for everyone!

— What can the audience expect at your concert at the House of Music? What instruments and in what images will you go on stage?

It is no coincidence that the concert is called “Sax Revolution”, since the program consists of all conceivable and inconceivable forms of beautiful music presentation in different genres. A concert in two parts, a journey through decades of jazz evolution and an explosive mixture of ethnic and jazz. Works from my early jazz activities will be performed, and there will be many new numbers that are loved by the listeners who come to our concerts. Well, instruments will be added - from a traditional quartet to a large ensemble with guests - for example, there will be a kurai player. So I guarantee you will enjoy the concert!

Yana Demina spoke with Oleg Kireev.

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The jazz mainstream, which arose in an era when large jazz orchestras were replaced by small club swinging and actively improvising compositions, became the star style of saxophonist Oleg Kireev from the very beginning of his jazz career. In the late 70s, all musicians in the world rushed to experiment with electronic instruments, jazz rock and folk, and Oleg moved on his own path, which intersected with new trends, but was closely connected with the mainstream - from his first own projects. Such a creative mix received enthusiastic approval from the Western press. And who would have thought at that time that the Soviet saxophonist would be able to become a star of the leading Western jazz scenes!

“In Oleg Kireev’s playing one can hear a surprisingly harmonious combination of styles, from jazz of the 20s to the music of John Coltrane...” wrote American saxophonist Bud Shank (Arts & Entertainment)

At the beginning of his musical destiny, studying piano at a Ufa school, Oleg did not even suspect that his passion for music would lead to a brilliant career as a jazz saxophonist. But everything great begins with small things, and sometimes, moreover, completely by accident. The path of Oleg Kireev began with one melody that once sank deeply into the soul - “The Shadow of Your Smile.” Only later did he find out that it was jazz, and from that moment his path was predetermined

1978 was the year of admission to the music school in the pop-jazz department. The saxophone was chosen as the instrument, and since then the musician has never regretted his choice.

While still in the army, Oleg Kireev attended the Samara jazz festival, and after that he began to promote his own music, playing in different bands with different musicians. In fact, for the development of performing talent, it is very important and necessary for a musician to constantly experiment, move, one might even say “flow” in different directions in order to enrich his “sound reserve” with new overtones. This is especially true for playing such an extraordinary instrument as the saxophone.

Having gained experience, in 1986 the musician created his own jazz ensemble “Orlan”. The original concept in the form of a jazz adaptation of the ethnic music of Bashkiria made an indelible impression on listeners, who joyfully greeted the band in all corners of the USSR. "Orlan" recorded an album at the Melodiya recording studio, successfully performed at the Polish Krakow festival and unexpectedly disbanded. Some musicians went to Thailand, and Oleg went to Poland, where he went through an excellent jazz school in Polish nightclubs, performing with local musicians.

Soon Oleg receives an invitation to study in the USA from American saxophonist Bud Schenk, and with this a unique opportunity not only to discover and improve his musical talent in the homeland of jazz, but also to make a lot of acquaintances with famous American jazzmen. Since 2006, Oleg Kireev has been applauded by the best concert venues in Washington, New York and San Francisco. The incredible happens: a Russian jazzman receives enthusiastic recognition from the American public, to the point that his album receives a Grammy nomination.

Today Oleg Kireev plays as part of his quartet, and also gives joint concerts with many famous American musicians. In 2010, he was appointed to the post of cultural adviser to the President of Bashkiria. And by decree of the President of Bashkortostan dated March 1, 2012, “for high professional skill and great contribution to the development of musical art of the Republic of Bashkortostan,” Oleg Kireev was awarded the title “People’s Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan.”

"His sound is hypnotic, sensual - sometimes guttural, like Coleman Hawkins, at other times, husky, enchanting, like the great Ben Webster." - All About Jazz, USA, Raul d'Gama Rose

“Kireev plays impressively with a wide, warm sound, reminiscent of Dave Liebman at times” - Cadence, USA, Grego Applegate Edwards.

NEWS on the site:

Oleg Kireev with the Orlan project at the Jazz Across Borders forum