The great Charlie Parker once said, “Don’t play the saxophone. Let it play you.” The wind instrument’s complexity makes it the perfect vessel for jazz. From Coleman Hawkins to Parker and Wayne Shorter, the instrument was raised from an accompaniment to a solo standard by some prominent performers. In Igor Butman, it finds new expression with a touch of Eastern folk rhythms and style. The Russian saxophonist, claimed to be a personal favourite of former US President Bill Clinton, will take the stage in the neighbourhood of Bandra this week to perform with his quintet.

“This is my eighth visit to India, and I have enjoyed every one of them,” Butman says over a phone call from Delhi, where he performed last Sunday. The Mumbai session marks another step in a long journey for the Grammy-nominated saxophonist who was initiated into the genre by his father. “My father was an amateur drummer, and he introduced me to jazz. I also had a neighbour who played the saxophone, and performed in the Russian orchestra. In that sense, I grew up around the music,” he says. Having started out as a clarinetist, one of Butman’s early heroes was Benny Goodman, the King of Swing. “I wanted to be like him [Goodman], before I switched to the saxophone,” he reveals.