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Alexander Shulgin

Alexander Shulgin is a leading executive in the new Russian music industry, having worked with such iconic artists as Valeria, Mumiy Troll, Dima Malikov, Gruppa.fm and many others. Mr. Shulgin owns and operates Familia Entertainment, a record label, and Familia Publishing, a publishing company. In addition to top-10 songs, his catalogue includes a diverse array of rare releases, including hundreds of the best-known Russian gypsy songs, Songs of Siberian Exile and Best Songs of WWI, all of which are part of Russia's unique musical heritage.

Shulgin's career began at the age of 19 in the legendary Russian rock band The Cruise, regarded as the first rock-band of the USSR to tour abroad (1983-1986). Despite being known as anti-Soviet and no mass media attention, The Cruise went on to sell 20 million copies of their debut album in 1985.

After The Cruise, Shulgin began working in Germany, where he created "The Taiga Symphony". A fusion of Russian classic music with western rock-music, the album featured The Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pavel Kogan and respected Western musicians Alvin Lee, Paul Carrack, Mel Collins, Phil Palmer and JJ Belle. The album was also the beginning of Valeria's career, who would become one of the most popular singers in Russia.

Shulgin then created another ambitious East-West collaboration with BBC Worldwide called "Merry Christmas to the World". With lyrics and production by Richard Niles and music by Shulgin, it expressed the ethos of glasnost. London studio musicians performed with members of the Moscow Symphony and the Soviet Folk Orchestra. Sung by Valeria, the video was directed by Ken Russell who used it in his film "Alice in Russialand" (1998). Shot in Red Square, the clip featured psychic Uri Geller and became the grand finale of the New Year program on the first national TV channel of the Soviet Union.

Shulgin helped "FM Group" to record the debut album named "Made In Russia" and recorded an album of Alexander Byinov. He subsequently recorded a solo album for "FM Group" lead-singer Alevtina Egorova, also working with Tatiana Ovsienko and Nastya Shirokova. He also wrote material for two Elena Sheremet albums, "Lady-Sax" and "Lady-sax (The Remixes)," combining so-called easy listening with the saloon jazzy sound, as well as "Sax It Easy"and "Sax It Up! - The Remixes".

Shulgin is also a composer of music for films and TV, his songs appearing in films by Lukas Moodysson and Ken Russell. In 2005, Shulgin was invited to write 20 original songs for the music serial "Primadonna". He also wrote three leading themes for the film and all the songs for the final show of "Primadonna". Shulgin is also the director of the first public TV channel "Spas" for which he composed all the music.

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Recording

Gary Husband in 'Triptych, Part 2: Alexander Shulgin's Songbook'

Gary Husband in 'Triptych, Part 2: Alexander Shulgin's Songbook'

Source: All About Jazz

This is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of part two of Alexander Shulgin's Songbook, Triptych. Producer Richard Niles and multi-instrumentalist Gary Husband discuss what it was like creating part two of Alexander Shulgin's instrumental album.

“Atmosphere is a key word for me in my musical endeavor, whether it's in the pop, jazz, classical or fusion realms, and here I had a chance to explore exactly that.." - Gary Husband

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Radio

Twenty Five Radio Stations Add 'Triptych. Shulgin's Songbook' in February

Twenty Five Radio Stations Add 'Triptych. Shulgin's Songbook' in February

Source: MusicDish Network

As a result of AirPlay Direct's selection of Russian Composer Alexander Shulgin as their Marquee Artist for the month of February, twenty five radio programmers and DJs downloaded tracks from the 3- album compilation “Triptych. Shulgin's Songbook" for airplay in over eight states and eight nations in three different continents. The jazz compilation, being released by Familia Entertainment, was initially made available to broadcasters/webcasters through AirPlay Direct in anticipation of its distribution to major online retailers through The Orchard in ...

"Alexander Shulgin’s piano album to me is a world view of now a wisdom artist on his way from complicated to simple.

Musing of "Lestnitsa k Solntsu", сounterpoints of "Primadonna", evanescence and clarity of "Verneshsya", carnality of "Santimento Paterno". A soul is following it’s reflection in sounds, sometimes feeling sad, sometimes feeling joyful, time and again feeling nostalgic…

It is a look at oneself, at life, at one’s past and future. A look that can be sheared easily with us, with the listening public, because this look belongs to us and to our life too.

So we feel grateful for the artist for his sincerity and invitation for communion." Yuri Rozum, People's Artist of Russia, pianist

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