Trumpeter Ilya Serov celebrated Valentine’s Day in Mumbai. The 37 year old Austin, Texas based jazz trumpeter, guitar player and singer, plays a Jazzohorn and is soon to release his fourth album.

Verus Ferreira spoke with the award winning trumpeter who made Valentine’s Day all the more meaningful for the motley crowd who attended his show on 14^th February 2024 at the Tata Theatre.

You are visiting India for the first time. What have you heard of the country?

It will be my first trip to India and I couldn’t be more excited. I am fascinated with India, the rich culture, and especially the music of course. The vast variety of rhythms in classical Indian music are incredible. I have spent hours on YouTube mesmerized watching videos of Solkattu and Konnakol. The movies, singing, dancing, styles, and colors of India are so unique and so fascinating. Growing up in Russia in the 90s I remember Indian movies were pretty popular. So, I am very familiar with that part of the culture.  I also love Indian cuisine. There is a pretty big Indian community here is Austin, Texas where I live now. So, we have a lot of great places to eat with some great Indian food. I am very excited to experience some authentic Indian flavors while in Mumbai. The cool thing about jazz is that no matter how much and what you are planning in advance, the real magic happens in that moment on stage. It is that connection with the audience and joy of music that creates those very special moments to remember. I am very excited to make a lot of great new friends in India.

You mentioned you grew up in Russia, relocated to Los Angeles. Share your journey with us.

Before becoming a jazz, soul, and RnB musician in the US I went through a long path navigating myself in the world of music. I was learning and figuring out what I wanted to do by trying a lot of things. I started as a classical musician at the age of 7 and went through all the formal academies training resulting in Bachelor’s Degree in Performance and Education. During of the years of formal training in classical music I always gravitated towards other genres, that fascinated me, and one of them was jazz in its many forms and shades. During my college years, I realized, that it is the kind of music that I really want to be playing. After I moved to the US, I still played classical music for a little while, by working with multiple symphony orchestras, but after a few years my life completely shifted to jazz. It has been a fascinating journey so far, and I can’t wait to see where the music is taking me next.

How would you classify the jazz music style you play?

I would consider myself a jazz musician. But since the jazz music is constantly evolving and over the decades it has been infused with so many other genres, it is so hard to say what jazz really is these days. The music that I have been releasing lately could be called contemporary jazz, soul, and smooth RnB.

You are also a composer and have worked in films. Share a few details.

I am very fortunate to have worked on a few projects with film, both as a vocalist and composer. I did a vocal session for the movie ‘Deadpool 2’, and other projects came by, co-writing one of the main themes for the movie ‘Creed 2’ alongside incredible composer Ludwig Goransson and recording/producing vocals for the animated film ‘Addams Family 2’. All these were such valuable and memorable experiences for me as a writer, producer, and musician.

In November 2021, you released ‘Just Friends’ an album dedicated to trumpeter Chet Baker. The album title is one of Baker’s songs. What was Baker to you and how did this album come to be dedicated to him.

That is correct, “Just Friends” is a tribute to one of my biggest musical influences, trumpeter, and vocalist Chet Baker. After listening to Chet’s early albums for the first time I absolutely fell in love with his style and sound. His voice also inspired my roots in singing, but not until I was in my late 20s.The idea behind the album was to imagine what Chet would sound like in 2021 as contemporary jazz musician. That is the year the album came out. I picked some of my favorite songs from Chet’s repertoire and rearranged them with the contemporary jazz twist. “Just Friends” was one the first songs of Chet’s that I discovered and was taken by. To make the album more personal I added a few of my original compositions to the album as well.

The album also features a unique instrument, the Jazzohorn. Tell us something about this instrument. 

The story behind the Jazzohorn, as I called it, goes back a few years. When I first started to think of recording my very first contemporary jazz album “Just Friends”, one of my producer friends suggested to explore some cool looking instruments made by a very talented trumpet maker in the UK, Andy Taylor. Looking at all the unique looking instrument on his site, we got an idea to make a trumpet that looks like a saxophone. I thought it would be funny, but when we really got into the process and the instrument turned out the way it is now, it became a huge part of musical pallet for recordings and live shows.

You are also a very talented singer. Which you do like most singing or playing the trumpet?

As I mentioned earlier, I was always inspired by Chet Baker’s vocals, considering that he also was an amazing trumpet player. I was also inspired by the crooners of the big band era. I never thought of myself as a vocalist and never knew I could sing. I started singing almost accidentally. I had to fill in for someone at one of my small local gigs, and even though I didn’t sound good at all, I had fun and felt like I wanted to develop that skill further. I started taking vocal lessons and practicing on my own, by listening some of my favorite vocalists.

Are you working on any new music?

Yes, I am working on my 4^th studio album right now, and planning to release it in the spring. It is my first ever album that consists of only original music (both songs and instrumentals). I collaborated with some of my favorite musicians and producers and I can’t wait to share this new project with the world.

What made you want to take up the trumpet among other instruments and take up playing jazz? Did your parents play a role in influencing you into music?

A lot of musicians have that cool story about their pivotal moment in life, when they fell in love with one instrument and knew in that moment that it was going to be their lifelong obsession. Unfortunately, my story really lacks that inspirational aspect…. (laughing).  My history with trumpet and music in general started from a trip to a local music school with my parents. They were a huge advocates of music education, especially my Mom. She really wanted me to play an instrument and took me to the school to see the band practice and to maybe inspire me to want to play an instrument. She loved the saxophone. At that moment I had a very vague understanding of music and didn’t know the difference between a variety of music instruments. So, after listening to an hour of a concert wind band practice, the instrument I noticed the most was tuba. But since I was too small for it at that time, the band director recommended the trumpet, that I probably didn’t know existed before that day. And almost 30 years later I still have the trumpet in my hands.

You have also done albums like “September in the Rain” (2013) with a Big Band set up, followed by “Back in Time” (2018). Can you tell us how different each album is and if there are any collaborations on the albums.

With both of these albums I wanted to pay tribute to the era of music that is so rich and is rooted so deep in my heart. I absolutely love the big band era and the Great American Songbook. The writing was so strong back then. These two albums were so much fun to work on, preparing the arrangements, collaborating with so many incredible musicians, living through each of those songs. I feel so blessed to have worked with some of my musical heroes and to learn so much from them during that process. This list of musicians includes pianist Roger Kellaway, percussionist Poncho Sanchez, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, guitarist Bruce Forman, arranger Tom Kubis.

Can you tell us about your determination to embrace new directions when it comes to music?

I think it is very important to always be curious and keep exploring. I think music is like an infinite universe and the more we discover the more we get inspired and influenced to do something new and different. It is a never-ending process and there are so many other musical directions that I am planning to tap into that may surprise some of my listeners. But that’s what makes it fun and what keeps me going.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira