Group "Integral". Start

The group "Integral" was formed in 1962. Its founders are pupils of the eighth grade of the general school of the city of Charsk, which is located in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan.

Start

Among the founders were Boris Alibasov and Mikhail Arapov. It was these two musicians who created the jazz ensemble, which included a few more guys. Alibasov in this group was on drums, sang vocals, and also was the direct supervisor. The first song of "Integral" was the song "When I went to Bembash." The guys took this composition from the repertoire of the Yugoslav collective.

In addition, the group "Integral", which was then composed of some teenagers, at that time performed jazz music. In the same year, Bari Alibasov was expelled from high school for his tour activities. It did not upset him. The group still continues to tour the surrounding areas, give paid music concerts, visit large cities, including the regional center of Semipalatinsk. Later, Alibasov was reinstated in the school, and in 1965 he graduated from it. The boys moved from Charsk to Ust-Kamenogorsk, the regional center of the East Kazakhstan region, where they entered the technical university.

Ust-Kamenogorsk

In Ust-Kamenogorsk, Arapov and Alibasov get a job in the Palace of Culture of Metallurgists, where they work as simple handymen. There, comrades revive their musical group, invite in it other students from their university. Among these new participants were Vladimir Senchenkov, who played electric guitar, saxophonist and vocalist Vladimir Solovyov and Anatoly Lepeshkin, who played on the double bass. Then the group got its name "Integral".

Alibasov was still on drums, while also singing vocals. Arapov played on the organ, which was a rarity in the USSR at that time.

Alibasov - head of the jazz ensemble

A year later, on the petition of Leonid Kotovsky, former director of the Palace of Culture, Bari Alibasov was appointed head of the jazz ensemble with a payout of 110 rubles. The members of the group begin to actively earn money by organizing concerts in the House of Culture. On the offensive of New Year's holidays, children give several paid concerts in a row.

The repertoire of the group of those years consisted of singles of such famous rock and roll performers as Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Little Richard. However, Alibasov's main focus was on his twist, which by that time had received official status in the Soviet Union.

Then "Integral" begins to compose unpretentious texts, to put music on them. One of the first compositions written by Alibasov and Arapov is "Spring Rain", which gained popularity in the masses.

Popularity

The group "Integral", whose songs were already heard by the Kazakhs, is becoming very popular. To buy a ticket to a concert of the collective, one often had to stand in line for hours. Raising its professional level, Integral gets to the regional theater, it accompanies the production of two famous performances.

Since 1966, the tour activity of the group "Integral" begins in the Altai Territory, East Kazakhstan and Semipalatinsk regions. Alibasov, being the leader of the group, makes very strict requirements to its other participants. And this is due not only to the musical component, but also to the visual component. His demands on musicians, concerning their facial expressions, emotions and plastics, force many to leave the band.

Only in two years the team was replaced by three soloists, who could not stand the severe work and power demands of Alibasov.

Krahin and Stefanenko. Experimental music

Some time later, Alexander Krahin and Alexander Stefanenko got into the team of Alibasov. With their arrival, the style and general direction of music that the collective performs is changing. Both Krahin and Stefanenko were great musicians, but apart from that they were also great composers who were far from Soviet popular music. Both were fans of The Beatles, which, incidentally, was not very praised by Alibasov himself. It was this difference in views, in the musical interests that helped to expand the repertoire of the collective.

Alexander Krahin composed songs, ballads, experimented and combined rock with classical and national music of countries such as China and India. Stefanenko also wrote songs, but they were more lyrical, similar to the style of bands like The Doors, The Hollies, etc. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd had a very significant influence on the band's style.

Alibasov tried to make from his team not just a collective, but a show group, like Pink Floyd. To this end, he used all sorts of tricks and techniques to increase the attractiveness and entertainment. He used, for example, several screens, on which during the performance of the group some specific stories were shown. At the concerts there were magnificent scenery, and special attention was paid to light effects.

1969 for the group became significant - the team goes on tour in Kazakhstan, gives a concert in the capital of Alma-Ata. The group becomes aware of the whole of Kazakhstan, the leading Kazakh newspapers write about it. At the same time, Mikhail Arapov marries Valentina Svistkova, and Alibasov begins a conflict with the rest of the participants because of the well-known singer Aza Romanchuk at the time. The result is that Alibasov in 1969 goes to serve in the army. Rock band "Integral" suspends its work for two years.