Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin (Russian: Никола́й Ги́ршевич Капу́стинRussian pronunciation:[kɐˈpustʲɪn]; 22 November 1937 – 2 July 2020) was a Soviet[1][2] composer and pianist of Russian-Jewish descent.[2] He played with early Soviet jazz bands such as the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. In his compositions, mostly for piano, he often fused jazz and classical forms.
During the 1950s, Kapustin acquired a reputation as a jazz pianist, arranger and composer. He had his own quintet, which performed at an "upscale restaurant" monthly.[5] He played as a member of Yury Saulsky's big band and later in the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra.[3] In his compositions, he fused the traditions of both classical piano repertoire and improvisational jazz, combining jazz idioms and classical music structures.[6][7][8] His Suite in the Old Style, Op. 28, written in 1977, sounds like jazz improvisation but is modeled after Baroque suites such as Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard partitas. Other examples of his fusion music are 24 Preludes in Jazz Style, Op. 53,[9]24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 82, written in 1997, and the Sonatina, Op. 100.[3]
Kapustin regarded himself as a composer rather than a jazz musician: "I was never a jazz musician. I never tried to be a real jazz pianist, but I had to do it because of the composing. I'm not interested in improvisation – and what is a jazz musician without improvisation? All my improvisations are written, of course, and they became much better; it improved them."[10]
