Belukha jam

The name of the group comes from the name of Belukha Mountain (the Altai names Uch-Sumer, Kadyn-Bazhy) - a sacred mountain for the Altai people , located near the village of Ust-Koks , where the founder of the group, Alexei Chichakov, was born and lives. Jam on a slang of musicians means improvisation ^[1] .

The leader and founder of the group, Alexei Chichakov, became interested in music from the 8th grade of the school. He played the guitar, composed music, wrote poetry. In high school, he organized an amateur music group. Initially, he wrote songs in Russian, his work was focused on Western music, including Pink Floyd , The Beatles , Jimi Hendrix .

Everything changed after the famous throat singing artist Bolot Bayryshev came to Ust-Koksu with a concert. Alexey was inspired by Altai national music and subsequently began to perform Altai songs. It is worth noting that the great-grandfather of Chichakova was a shaman and throat singing performer.

In 2005, Alexei graduated from the Altai Institute of Arts and Culture (AGIIK) ( Barnaul ) with a degree in theater directing, and in the same year the Belukha Jam group was formed.

In 2008, the first album was recorded, and in 2009 it was presented. Bolot Bayryshev took part in the recording of the album, the group began to take part in his concerts ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

They are participants in various Russian as well as foreign festivals ^[4] .

The founder and permanent leader of the group is Alexey Chichakov - throat singing , topshur , guitar , harp , flute .

The group has two compositions: acoustic and electric (electronic).

Acoustic composition (formed in 2014) ^[4]

• Alexander Samodum ( Moscow ) - harp guitar
• Alina Batygina ( Barnaul ) - violin
• Evgeny Kulik (Barnaul) - drums

Electric composition

• Evgeny Kulik (Barnaul) - drums
• Dmitry Vorotnikov (Barnaul) - bass

^{[1] [5]}

Former members

• Andrey Kudryavtsev - bass
• Anton Pigarev - drums
• Pyotr Ermolaev - button accordion
• Andrey Sklyarov - bass
• Oleg Zenkov - drums

• “Around One” (solo album by Alexei Chichakov) (2009)
• Shambala (2013)
• "33" (solo album by Alexei Chichakov) (2015) ^[6]
• “Heart of Altai” (2016)
• "Legends and myths of Gorny-Altai" (2017), as part of the Altai Trio - (Bolot Bayryshev, Tandalay Modorova, Alexey Chichakov)
• Scythian Trail (2018), as part of the Scythian Trail

Alexey Chichakov and Alexander Samodum met by chance during a trip to the Altai mountains at the foot of the Belukha in 2014, after which the latter became a member of the Belukha Jam group. They also act as a duet ^[7] .