In December 2007 Sony Classical released Igor Butman’s CD “Magic Land” feat. Chick Corea (piano), John Patitucci (double bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums).
“In late November of 2005 I received a call from Igor Butman from Moscow, asking if I would produce and play on a recording for him in January 2006 in New York.
After listening to Igor’s playing I was happy to participate in the project which was around the music of well known Russian cartoons.
Making the project even more exciting was the addition of some of the most incredible musicians around, Chick Corea, John Patitucci, Randy Brecker and Stefon Harris who all contributed to the music on the highest level and I am really grateful to them all.
To help us get into the mood we all watched the original versions of the cartoons supplied by Igor’s wife Oksana and it helped a lot.
I love Igor’s warm, robust tenor and his lush, full-bodied sound on soprano. He knows how to swing hard and how to leave space, but most importantly he knows how to play a beautiful ballad.
I really had fun and enjoyed doing this project, as well as playing with such great musicians the melodies themselves were very appealing and stay with you for a long time.
Thank you to all of those involved including the great engineer James Farber.”
Jack DeJohnette