Igor Butman, Evgeniy Pobozhiy & Antonio Sanchez - Only Now (2021)

In December 2021, Butman Music Records will release Igor Butman's long-awaited eighteenth studio album Only Now! The star line-up of the recording participants, the premiere of the author's compositions by the maestro, the intriguing cover - people began to talk about the first solo release of the world famous saxophonist in the last five years long before its release.

The disc is named after the title piece Only Now, the first author's composition by Igor Butman, written by him in the distant 80s (by the way, the first foreign jazz recording on which the maestro's saxophone sounds is Then & Now of the legendary Grover Washington). The album was recorded by the author of the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film "Birdman", four-time Grammy winner, drummer Antonio Sanchez, winner of the "Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition", itarist Yevgeny Pobozhiy, famous pianist and vocalist, who took second place in the Sarah Vaughan competition International Vocal Competition Oleg Akkuratov. The double bass part is alternately performed by two famous American musicians - two-time Grammy winner Eddie Gomez and one of the most sought-after bassists on the New York scene, Matt Brewer. The album was recorded at Sound on Sound Studios by five-time Grammy award-winning sound engineer James Farber in June 2019.

The album includes both previously unreleased author's compositions by Igor Butman - Egyptian Nights, You've Got E-mail and Only Now - as well as the hallmarks of the Moscow Jazz Orchestra and Igor Butman Quintet Baby, I Love You by Winton Marsalis and Ray of the Sun gold "Gennady Gladkov. The composition-dedication to Maestro's friend Winton Marsalis - Blues For Wynton - was recorded on the album in two versions: the Quartet (with the participation of Matt Brewer) and the Quintet (with the participation of Eddie Gomez and Oleg Akkuratov). The album also includes Evgeny Pobozhiy's author's composition Verdict and Falling Grace by Steve Swallow, performed as a duet by Igor Butman and Evgeny Pobozhim at the All Star Global Concert of the International Jazz Day in 2020.