Ad Astra

On November 26, the new album Ad Astra by saxophonist Anton Chekurov was released on all music venues. The release is being released on the Butman Music label. This is the third album by one of the most talented and vibrant jazz saxophonists of the new generation. Anton Chekurov has been performing at prestigious concert venues around the world for ten years. He is a soloist of the Igor Butman Moscow Jazz Orchestra, and also collaborates with popular artists of other genres, for example, with L'One. "Every song on this album is a story from my life. I wanted to write deeper music that could make people think, that could convey strong emotions. In addition, the approach to recording has changed dramatically. Here I would like to thank Lev Trofimov separately for his great sound engineering, music production and brilliant playing. The composition of the instruments has also expanded: in addition to the alto saxophone, I recorded several compositions on the soprano saxophone; the phenomenal vocalist Alina Yengibaryan was added, who also played the synth bass. Getting to know Alina is the main event in these four years. I fell in love, and realized that this is the person with whom I want to live my whole life. I wrote the song A.E. (for Alina) as a declaration of love and wanted Alina to sing it. And then she wrote the text and performed it brilliantly," says Anton Chekurov. In addition to Anton Chekurov and the winner of the "Shure Montreux Jazz Vocal Competition" Alina Yengibaryan, outstanding musicians are recorded on the album: the winner of the International Guitar Competition of the Jazz Institute. Herbie Hancock, guitarist Evgeny Pobozhy; drummers David Sagamonyants, who, according to Roland, is one of the five best drummers in the world, and Alexander Kulkov; as well as double bassist Sergey Korchagin. The music on the Ad Astra release is written in the genre of modern jazz. Each track on the album is a vivid statement, each piece is strikingly different from the previous one. For example, the composition "Ad Astra" was written under the impression of the film of the same name and conveys the cold mood of space and the desire to definitely return home. "1984" recreates the atmosphere of a cult dystopia in musical guise: non-standard size 9/4, tense harmonies, changing parts of the piano, guitar and soprano saxophone among themselves, and of course the ending on fade out, embodying hopelessness. There is also a play by Thelonious Monk in the album — the only composition not written by Anton. But it sounds in his arrangement, so as not to lose the author's style of the album.