Swing in Russia

Swing in Russia

The first and best Russian swinging outfit PIJONY were formed by singer and double bass player Oleg Ousmanov, along with the saxophone/accordion player Pavel Verentchikov. The two left a popular rockabilly quartet MISTER TWISTER. In January, 1999 Ousmanov invited renowned musicians with a solid rockabilly and jazz background: they used to rock with CRAZY MEN CRAZY, OFFBEAT, THAT'S ALRIGHT MAMA, GREASE DREAM and swing for Tamara Gverdziteli Group and Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. The new band consists of a rock trio, the piano and the horn section. PIJONY (in Russian ПИЖОНЫ) played their first gig on March 7, 1999 at the Coockoo Club and then Country Bar. They were dubbed "jive band under Ousmanov" at the Poor People Club and later appeared in a lot of clubs and did some tours. They appeared on TV several times.
The band rehearsed several tunes with a 55-strong Russian Railways Big Band and played several joint dates and made the joint recording. PIJONY recorded a single of 3 original songs in Russian (summer of 2000) and are now finishing an album. The swingers sing both in Russian and in English. The swingdancing community loves the band best of all due to their ability to play slow jumping numbers. Their leader goes for swingdancing and shows off his skills at gigs. PIJONY have a site of their own. Surf to www.pijony.ru

CORAL REEVES were formed by pianist Michael Deryabin, who had earlier played in Moscow rockabilly bands (along with Verentchikov and Oleg Butenko of the TWISTERS). Their first show early in January, 1999 cold hardly be called a success. Lineup changes followed and forced the band to break up soon. REEVES were joined by the former saxophonist with Alex Blokhin (CRAZY MEN CRAZY), when the latter tried to play swing in 1996, but later left for America. CRAZY MEN CRAZY are well known to Russian rockabilly punters. The REEVES lineup began climbing up in 2003 when a steady bass player and a good good singer joined the band, with a lady guitar player, 3-4 horns. The band recorded several unreleased demoes in Russian and finished an album late in 2009. The new band's webpage.

FUNK HOUSE, according to some rumours, are 4 years old. The band has arrived to Moscow from
Sevastopol and plays the rhythm-n-blues standards such as James Brown. The HOUSE boasts
3 live horns, and in 1999 the demoed some cover stuff in English. Unfortunately, nothing is known to us about FUNK HOUSE on the Internet.

Mishuris Swinging Orhestra were a six-piece outfit with clarinet as the only horn. Formed in 2001 they gigged actively in Moscow before breaking up in 2003. Half of the band left to join LEXICONS. The rest stayed with Michael Mishuris to play rhythm-and-blues with 2 saxes. Their self-released record is hard to find.

LEXICONS were formed in 2003 by a singing piano-player Alexey Blokhin instead of his previous quartet 1996 RUBY STARS. And that's not his only band: he started back in CRAZY MEN CRAZY! Clarinet & tenor sax are supported by a double bass, drums, jazz guitar and the piano. The band landed a steady gig in one of Moscow speakeasies. The band plays both originals and covers in English. The singer speaks Spanish and can do songs in Spanish and Italian.