The permanent leader of the group, guitarist and author of the songs performed by the group is Evgeniy Khavtan.
The group recorded many albums, the first of which was released in 1983. The group's style gravitates toward rock and roll, beat and rockabilly of the 50s and 60s, with elements of surf rock, ska, swing, new wave, etc.
Story
Aguzarova period (1983-1988)
The group was founded in the fall of 1983 by guitarist Evgeny Khavtan and drummer Pavel Kuzin, who left the Postscript group due to stylistic differences. The vocalist of the new band was Zhanna Aguzarova, known under the pseudonym Yvonne Anders. Saxophonist Alexander Stepanenko and bassist Andrey Konusov joined the group. With this lineup, in the winter of 1984, the first magnetic album was recorded, distributed through friends.
The debut concert of “Bravo” took place in December 1983 at a disco in Krylatskoye. “Bravo” performed the most relevant music for that time: “ new wave", neo-rockabilly and reggae. The group's second concert took place on January 28, 1984 at school No. 30 in Moscow. Together with Bravo, the following took part in the concert: “Zvuki Mu” (the group’s debut), Viktor Tsoi, Sergey Ryzhenko, and the experimental duet “Ratskevich & Shumov”. The concert on March 18, 1984 at the Mosenergotekhprom cultural center ended in scandal. The organizers and participants of the illegal concert were detained by the police and forced to write explanatory notes, since holding underground concerts for money was considered an illegal business. Zhanna Aguzarova spent several months under investigation for falsifying documents (her passport was issued in the name “Yvonne Anders,” under which she performed) and was forced to leave Moscow due to lack of registration. In her absence, the composition of the group changed significantly, and Sergei Ryzhenko performed the duties of vocalist.
In 1985, with the return of Zhanna, the group managed to achieve legal status and join the Moscow Rock Laboratory. Thanks to meeting Alla Pugacheva, “Bravo” was invited to the TV show “ Musical ring" The following year, the group took part in the Rock Panorama-86 festival, where they received a prize audience choice, and later at the Lituanika-86 festival. The group began to gain popularity and professionalism. In 1987, the first official release of “Bravo” took place on the state recording company “Melodiya” - the Bravo record of the same name by the group, which sold about 5 million copies.
Transition period (1988-1990)
By this time, the musicians’ relationship with Aguzarova, who preferred to remain underground, had deteriorated. The scandals ended with the departure of the vocalist. She was replaced by Anna Salmina, who sang the super hit “King Orange Summer”, which became the most popular composition of 1986 according to a survey by the “Sound Track” “MK”. After Salmina, Tatyana Ruzaeva worked in the group for a short time, and then Zhanna Aguzarova decided to return to Bravo, but in 1988 she left to work solo career. “Bravo” arranged auditions for new vocalists, including Robert Lenz and Evgeniy Osin, who came to every rehearsal, begging to be hired as anyone, be it a drummer or a guitarist. In 1989, he was taken into the group, the team recorded with him the album Let's say “Bravo!” to each other, which was distributed only on reels. Despite this, the songs “I’m sad and easy” and “ Good evening, Moscow!" became popularly known. At the beginning of 1990, Irina Epifanova joined the group, and she recorded two songs with her: “Jamaica” (on Italian) and "Red Light". This period was captured in one of the episodes of the TV show “Brain Ring”, namely on the set of the semi-final of the first season, where the group performed these two songs. Soon, however, Irina left the composition for solo career and already in August she took part in the Yalta-90 music festival, where she took third place.
Syutkin period (1990-1995)
After a long search, in 1990, “Bravo” finally found a permanent vocalist - Valery Syutkin, who had previously played in the groups “Telephone”, “Zodchie” and “Fan-o-man”. At first, there was disagreement in the group about his hairstyle. Syutkin had impressive hair, which did not fit into the image of a dude. After lengthy debate, Valery finally agreed to adjust his hairstyle and adjusted it to rock and roll standards. V. Syutkin’s original hairstyle can be seen when watching the very first video of the updated “Bravo” lineup for the song “Vasya,” filmed specifically for the Soviet TV show “Morning Mail,” in which the presentation of the new lineup and new material was supposed to take place. Debuted on August 25, 1990 new line-up groups: E. Khavtan - guitar, V. Syutkin - vocals, I. Danilkin - drums, S. Lapin - bass, A. Ivanov - saxophone, S. Bushkevich - trumpet. With this lineup, the group recorded their most famous albums: Hipsters from Moscow, Moscow Beat and Road to the Clouds.
The material of the first album was combined: some of the songs (“Vasya”, “Hold on, dude!”, “Girl of 16 years old”) were written in the new creative collaboration of V. Syutkin and E. Khavtan. Together with him, V. Syutkin also brought the composition to the team own composition“I am what you need.” The track was included in the album along with the instrumental composition “On the Dance Floor” (E. Khavtan). The rest of the album's material was previously recorded and performed by previous vocalists. The album featured a new sound of the songs “King Orange Summer”, “I’m Sad and Easy”, recorded in collaboration with E. Khavtan and the leader of the group “Bakhyt-Kompot” V. Stepantsov. The album also contains songs based on the poems by Evgeniy Osin “Good evening, Moscow!” and “Star Shake”, as well as A. Oleynik’s “Fast Train”, the music for which was written by Khavtan. In addition, the collection included a cover version of the famous Soviet hit 1960s “Black Cat”, sung by Valery Syutkin. The new phonogram for the old tracks was not rewritten; Syutkin’s vocal parts were superimposed on the already finished material. The collection was published in 1990.
In October 1992, the group's first full-length album was released, the result of two years of work. All compositions on it were written in tandem by composer Evgeniy Khavtan and lyricist Valery Syutkin. 10 music tracks last about 30 minutes. The sound concept of the new albums was somewhat different from previous works. If before that melodic guitar passages and experiments with synthesizers were often used, coupled with beautiful and melodic female vocals, then new sound changed towards classic rock and roll, the samples for which were predominantly the classic American rock and roll sound of the 1950s-1960s. A particularly striking example is the album Moscow Beat, consisting on the one hand of light and elegant compositions (“Lunatic”, “What a pity”, “That’s all”) and on the other of fiery dance tunes (“Polar Twist”, “Space Rock” -n-roll"), which, in turn, fully corresponded to both the spirit and sound of the classic shake, boogie and foxtrot.
After Valery Syutkin took his place at the microphone, the group began its second round of popularity. If the first wave of success was associated mainly with romantic underground symbols and aesthetics, then the new image was focused entirely on the paraphernalia of the dudes. The key fetish of the Syutkin period is the tie. Fans at concerts shower band members with them. Hundreds of ties from that time are still kept in the collections of Syutkin and Khavtan. A separate song appears - “Stylish Orange Tie”. In addition to the tie, the dude had to wear a spacious jacket and trousers, which would be comfortable to dance in, as well as wear sunglasses and multi-colored icons. In general, this image was borrowed from a stereotype that had already become a classic by that time. appearance dudes, which included all of the above details.
The updated “Bravo” goes on tour most of CIS. The peak of Bravo's popularity was between 1990 and 1994. The group's videos appear on television, taking first place in the charts. The culmination of the group’s second round of popularity are the anniversary concerts dedicated to the group’s tenth anniversary, held in Moscow in 1994. Zhanna Aguzarova took part in them after a long break. Thus, the Bravo groups of 1983 and 1993 performed on the same stage. The concerts ended with the joint performance of the song “Leningrad Rock and Roll” by Aguzarova and Syutkin.
Lenz period (since 1996)
In 1995, Syutkin left Bravo and began a successful solo career at the head of the ensemble Syutkin and Co. At the same time, one of its founders, drummer Pavel Kuzin, and the first saxophonist and keyboard player Alexander Stepanenko returned to the group. The name of the new vocalist was hidden until the end of recording the album At the Crossroads of Spring and was announced only in 1996. It turned out to be Robert Lentz (he remains in this position to this day), who had already taken part in the casting for this place in 1989. IN recent years and Evgeniy Khavtan himself also began performing songs as a vocalist.
In 1998, the group celebrated its 15th anniversary with the Bravomania concert tour, in which Syutkin and Aguzarova also took part. The tour was a great success, but the final concerts were canceled due to Jeanne's non-participation. In 2004, the group, celebrating its 20th anniversary, again invited its former vocalists, as well as friends: Garik Sukachev, Maxim Leonidov, Zemfira, Svetlana Surganova.
In 2008, as part of the celebration of its 25th anniversary, the group gave a series of concerts: on October 31 in St. Petersburg (special guest was Zhanna Aguzarova), and on November 12 in Moscow, in addition to Zhanna Aguzarova, Yuri Bashmet was invited with the chamber ensemble “Moscow Soloists”, with whom Bravo prepared a special program.
In parallel with his work at Bravo, Havtan released several albums of side projects (the working title of the project was “Mickey Mouse and the Stilettos”). His song “36.6,” co-written with Dmitry “Sid” Spirin from the group “Cockroaches!”, topped the Chart’s Dozen hit parade.
On September 19, 2011, the new album Fashion (named after the hit of the same name) was released, which critics called one of best works groups.
In November 2013, the Moscow club Stadium Live hosted anniversary concert, dedicated to the band's 30th anniversary, which was also received positively.
Group composition
- Evgeniy Khavtan - unique and standard guitars, vocals, frontman, musical themes and lyrics (1983-present)
- Alexander Stepanenko - keyboards, saxophone, flute, guitar (lap steel), accordion, tambourine (1983-1985, 1994-present)
- Pavel Kuzin - drums, percussion (1983-1985, 1995-present)
- Robert Lenz - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals (1995-present)
- Mikhail Grachev - bass guitar, double bass (2011-present)
- Dmitry Ashman - bass guitar (1994-2011)
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Biography, life story of the Bravo group
Bravo - Russian musical group, formed in 1983 in Moscow. The permanent leader of the group, guitarist and author of the songs performed by the group is Evgeniy Khavtan. The group recorded many albums, the first of which was released in 1983. The group's style tends to the beat of the 50-60s, with elements of jazz.
Bravo is known for its hipster image, which influenced clothing fashion in the 80s.
Periods of creativity
1. Aguzarova period
The group was founded in 1983 by guitarist Evgeniy Khavtan and drummer Pavel Kuzin, who left Garik Sukachev’s group “Postscript” due to stylistic differences. The vocalist of the new band was Zhanna Aguzarova, known under the pseudonym Ivanna Anders. Saxophonist Alexander Stepanenko and bassist Andrey Konusov joined the group. The first magnetic album was recorded with this composition, distributed through friends.
The debut concert of “Bravo” on March 18, 1984 at the Mosenergotekhprom Palace of Culture ended in scandal. The organizers and participants of the illegal concert were detained by the police and forced to write explanatory notes, since holding underground concerts for money was considered an illegal business. Zhanna Aguzarova spent several months under investigation for falsifying documents (her passport was issued in the name “Ivanna Anders,” under which she performed) and was forced to leave Moscow due to lack of registration. In her absence, the composition of the group changed significantly, and Sergei Ryzhenko performed the duties of vocalist.
In 1985, with the return of Zhanna, the group managed to achieve legal status and join the Moscow Rock Laboratory. Thanks to meeting Alla Pugacheva, Bravo was invited to the TV show “Musical Ring”. The following year, the group took part in the Rock Panorama 86 festival, where they received the audience award, and later in the Lituanika-86 festival. The group began to gain popularity and professionalism. In 1987, the first official release of “Bravo” took place on the state recording company “Melodiya” - the Bravo record of the same name by the group, which sold about 5 million copies.
CONTINUED BELOW
2. Syutkin’s period
By this time, the musicians’ relationship with Aguzarova, who preferred to remain underground, had deteriorated. The scandals ended with the departure of the vocalist. At the casting, the group selected Evgeniy Osin, who worked in the group for only a year, to replace the new vocalist.
In 1990, Bravo finally found a permanent vocalist - Valery Syutkin. At the same time, the group’s new hit was recorded: the song “Vasya”. On August 25, 1990, a new line-up of the group debuted: E. Khavtan - guitar, V. Syutkin - vocals, I. Danilkin - drums, S. Lapin - bass, A. Ivanov - saxophone, S. Bushkevich - trumpet. With this lineup, the group recorded their most famous albums: “Hipsters from Moscow”, “Moscow Beat” and “Road to the Clouds”. Bravo tours most of the CIS. Videos of the group appear on television.
3. Lenz period
In 1994, Syutkin left Bravo and began a successful solo career at the head of the Syutkin and Co. ensemble. At the same time, its founder Pavel Kuzin returned to the group. Bravo hid the name of the new vocalist until the end of the recording of the album “At the Crossroads of Spring,” and the vocalist was introduced only in 1996. It turned out to be Robert Lentz, who had already participated in the casting in 1989, and remains in this place to this day. In recent years, Evgeniy Khavtan himself also began performing songs as a vocalist.
In 1998, the group celebrated its 15th anniversary with the Bravomania concert tour, in which Syutkin and Aguzarova also took part. The tour was a great success, but the final concerts were canceled due to Jeanne's non-participation. In 2004, the group celebrated its 20th anniversary, again inviting its former vocalists, as well as friends: Garik Sukachev, Maxim Leonidov, Zemfira, and the Mashina Vremeni group.
In parallel with his work at Bravo, Havtan released several side project albums. His song “36.6”, co-written with Dmitry Spirin from the group Cockroaches!, topped the Chart’s Dozen hit parade.
Discography:
Albums
* 1987 - BRAVO
* 1987 - Bravo Ensemble
* 1989 - Bravo Group
* 1990 - Hipsters from Moscow
* 1993 - Moscow beat
* 1994 - Road to the clouds
* 1996 - At the crossroads of spring
* 1997 - Serenade 2000 (mini-album)
* 1998 - Hits about love
* 2001 - Eugenics
Singles
* 1994 - Road to the clouds
* 1995 - The Wind Knows
* 2001 - Love doesn't burn
Collections
* 1993 - Zhanna Aguzarova and “Bravo” 1983-1988
* 1994 - Live in Moscow
* 1995 - Songs different years
* 2004 - Star Catalog (tribute)
The history of the Moscow beat group "Bravo", like any other, played unconventional for the official Soviet stage music, is characterized by both unrelenting control of the party and administrative bodies, and constant changes in composition, as well as close contacts with other informal musicians.
"Postscript" - "Bravo"
Thus, the future leader of Bravo Evgeniy Khavtan begins musical career in 1982 in the group “Postscriptum” by Garik Sukachev, who then played new wave. After some time, in 1983, Garik Sukachev left the team, and his first future star soloist Zhanna Aguzarova, who had previously sung in the KGB-banned group “Mukhomory”, joined the ensemble.
The ensemble changes its name to “Bravo” and begins to play beats, performing in cultural palaces, institutes and schools. At the end of the year, the group's first unofficial magnetic album appeared, but already on March 18, 1984, the participants were detained by police officers right at the concert. The Bravo group ends up on the banned list, and Zhanna Aguzarova is arrested for several months due to problems with documents and then expelled from Moscow.
Peak of popularity
The composition of the group changes, and it practically stops concert activities, doing only rehearsals and occasionally performing at home concerts.
Since 1985, the situation with unofficial music in the country has softened significantly, and musicians as amateur group are invited to the newly created Moscow rock laboratory, which has the right to organize official concerts. Zhanna Aguzarova returns to the team, and very soon Alla Pugacheva, who by that time had already become the first Soviet pop star and a national favorite, began to patronize the group.
She is the one who invites guys to the most prestigious music festivals, and then television. In 1986, “Bravo” acquired the status of a professional philharmonic group, and in 1987, their first official record was released on “Melodiya”, consisting of songs from 3 magnetic albums released by that time and sold 5 million copies.
Syutkin and Lenz
The Bravo group is at the peak of its popularity, but in 1988 Zhanna Aguzarova leaves it, preferring to pursue a solo career. The group remains famous and gives concerts. However, due to the fact that the soloists of the Bravo group are constantly changing, the success of the team is not growing.
This continues until 1990, when Valery Syutkin joins the team - talented composer, a memorable vocalist and artist. “Bravo” again soars to the top of popularity - gives more than 1 thousand concerts, releases the albums “Hipsters from Moscow”, “Moscow Beat” and “Road in the Clouds”, which became the most popular in the discography that the Bravo group had.
In 1994, Syutkin again left the team for the sake of a solo career. He is replaced by Robert Lenz. With his arrival, the audience of quite numerous fans of the ensemble becomes permanent, and increasingly younger, which gives the group the opportunity to give an acceptable number of concerts and release new singles and albums.
Change of direction
Changes and creative activity groups - now they are engaged in parallel with their work at Bravo solo projects, perform songs by other authors and invite other composers to their concerts.
The musicians, together with the invited stars, celebrate 20 and 25 years of work in the Kremlin and become one of the most profitable concert groups in the country, and their participation in major rock festivals only increases the number of their fans, and from among those who were not yet born when the Bravo group began its activities. The ensemble continues to release albums, including those with the participation of foreign producers, but very rarely: “Fashion” - in 2011, and “Forever” - only in 2015.
And yet, the Bravo team is not forgotten by fans - many songs are constant hits on radio and television.
Celebrates its 56th anniversary on October 16 Evgeniy Khavtan- permanent leader group "Bravo", which this year celebrated 33 years since its founding. Although during this time the group changed several soloists, it not only did not break up, but also continues to tour successfully, winning new fans. Few of them know about Bravo’s criminal past and that the main characters of the group’s official birthday in 1984 were law enforcement officers who arrested Zhanna Aguzarova right during the concert.
In the fall of 1983, a first-year student at the Moscow Institute of Railway Transport Engineers, Zhenya Khavtan, came to audition for the musicians of the Postscriptum group, whose leader was Garik Sukachev. They did not work together for long, as they had different ideas about the musical future of the group. Together with drummer Pavel Kuzin, they decided to leave the band and create their own group. The first soloist of the group was Yvonne Anders (Zhanna Aguzarova), and the name “Bravo” was invented by her friend (other options included “Sheik” and “Twist”).
Although the musicians began working together back in 1983, the group considers its official birthday to be March 18, 1984, when that ill-fated concert took place at the Mosenergotekhprom cultural center, after which the musicians began to have serious troubles. Evgeniy Khavtan recalled: “ At that very moment Yvonne began to sing “White Day” - “He will sing to me new song about the main thing. It will not pass, no, blooming, inviting, glorious, my wonderful world! At the words “wonderful world,” people in police uniforms jumped out from behind the scenes, and with them one in civilian clothes with a bullhorn - “Everyone stay put!” A police chain tightened around the club - an operational regiment was brought in. Shocked people watched what was happening from the balconies of surrounding houses. Buses, GAZ cars, special medical services, and some “Cossacks” drove up to the doors of the cultural center. The brave law enforcement officers threw everyone who was in the cultural center into them, without distinction of gender and age».
A criminal case was opened against the musicians for holding concerts of the Bravo group illegally. The fact is that the group was assigned to the Mosenergotekhprom House of Culture and was supposed to perform only at holidays for the employees of this enterprise, where they performed Soviet and Italian pop songs. And they began to organize their own concerts, where they played music of their own composition.
Evgeniy Khavtan said: “ We were dealt with by two departments - Petrovka, 38 and Lubyanka, then Dzerzhinsky Square. Moreover, Lubyanka came to Petrovka - it was more convenient. The offices were opposite, and I went for interrogation first to the police, then to the security officers. Petrovka dealt with economic crimes, the KGB dealt with ideology. Economic authorities saw in private enterprise, unauthorized - so-called unfilled concerts. We really didn’t take permission from anyone, we didn’t submit songs for approval. ABOUT possible consequences Of course, we didn't even think about it. And ideology... Why do guys go out in black suits, skinny ties, white shirts and pointy boots? What do they want to say by this, what is the background?" Of course, there was no reason. But their example should have become a warning to other rock groups.
At the police station they had to give explanations about who organized their concerts and distributed tickets. However, nothing intelligible could be achieved either from them or from the audience, so the case was soon closed for lack of evidence of a crime. Zhanna Aguzarova suffered the most back then - she had problems with her Moscow registration and passport, in which she personally wrote something like “Yvonne Andres, Danish subject.” The singer was arrested and kept in a pre-trial detention center and mental hospital for several months. And after that they sent her to correctional labor at the Tyumen timber industry enterprise. Evgeniy Khavtan was expelled from the institute, and Bravo was added to the black list of prohibited groups, which already included Alisa, DDT and Aquarium.
When Zhanna was arrested, the group continued rehearsing, but some musicians still decided to leave the group. Others took their place, and with the updated composition, Bravo was invited to the creative laboratory of rock music, created to make it more convenient for the KGB to control the musical underground. The ensemble received the status of an amateur group. Soon Alla Pugacheva drew attention to them and invited them to participate in a concert dedicated to the liquidators of the nuclear power plant accident in Chernobyl. The telecast of the concert opened the way for them on TV, and after that “Bravo” often appeared on television and radio, and the group’s popularity began to gain momentum. Since then they have been successfully touring, and although they have changed several soloists, they continue to perform to this day.
When the lead singer left the group, there were many rumors.
The musicians of "Postscript" did not make any impression on Havtan, just as he did not make any impression on them. The only one he liked then was drummer Pavel Kuzin, who even then was drumming “quite briskly and technically.” But the “union” nevertheless took place, and, as it turned out later, Khavtan’s “branded” gadgets and guitar played an important role in this. Evgeniy tried to lead the team away from their chosen one musical style, which was a mixture of art rock and hard rock, towards something he considered more progressive. In addition, the new guitarist did not like the bassist, and soon Sergei Britchenkov (the author of the lyrics of the composition “I Believe”) was replaced by bass guitarist Karen Sarkisov, brought by Khavtan. For some time, the renewed team (Garik Sukachev, Evgeniy Khavtan, Pavel Kuzin and Karen Sarkisov) played music in the new wave style, songs from the repertoire of the group Secret Service, Police and Garik’s compositions. But since the performances took place at dances in the club of the Mosenergotekhprom plant, where the musicians had a base, it was necessary to dilute the program with Italian pop songs. This situation did not suit anyone, and after one of the concerts, sitting in Kuzin’s kitchen, Pavel and Evgeniy decided that they were not on the same path with Sukachev. At the same time, Garik came to a similar conclusion, so the musicians separated by mutual agreement.
Creation process new team began with the search for a saxophonist, because, according to Khavtan, it was impossible to play new wave without a saxophone. In Zhelsznodorozhny near Moscow, Alexander Stepanenko was found playing in a local banquet hall. Then Zhanna Aguzarova appeared: one night a call rang in Zhenya’s apartment, and the girl on the other end of the line said that she wanted to sing and was looking for an ensemble. “Before this, such alternative people as “Mukhomory” told me about her, whom the KGB had already tried to put in prison, and they miraculously had not yet gone to jail by that time. They told me that there was such a girl, and I was already ready for this call “She came and captivated us all,” recalls the leader of the Bravo group, which began with the following lineup: Evgeniy Khavtan (leader, guitarist, composer), Ivanna Anders (aka Zhanna Aguzarova - vocals), Andrey Konusov (bass guitar). ), Pavel Kuzin (drums), Alexander Stepanenko (saxophone). By the way, the name of the group was invented by Zhanna’s friend. After one of the visits Bolshoi Theater the girl thought that the traditional theatrical shouts of “Bravo” were a good name for the group. The musicians agreed that her proposal was better than the options they came up with - “Twist”, “Sheik” or “KVN”.
The first song of the ensemble was the composition “Cats,” which Zhenya played to Zhanna on the guitar, and a few days later the vocalist brought a poem by William J. Smith for her. According to Eugene, Zhanna then possessed a rare gift find very good poems for songs. The poetry and music of Havtan she brought formed the basis of the first 20-minute recording, which appeared on cassettes in 1984. “We played concerts, and I already felt that we were being watched,” says Evgeniy Khavtan. “In order to perpetuate our creativity, not yet knowing what will happen to us, we are on our rehearsal base with the help of the first distributors of magnetic albums, Viktor Alisov and Yuri Sevostyanov, we made this record, which today is a reference for me in terms of energy, mood, amount of sincerity and amount of crap - everything corresponds to the idea of what the first record of a group should be ". This session is famous for the fact that bass guitarist Andrei Konusov, whose finger was pinched by his wife during a domestic quarrel, actually played his instrument with three fingers.
A few weeks after the recording, on March 18, 1984 (Bravo considers this date its official birthday), the group’s infamous concert took place at the Mosenergotekhprom cultural center, the main actors which became law enforcement officers, and the final coda sounded at the local police station, where the musicians wrote explanatory notes about who organized their performance and how and where tickets were distributed. They could not imprison all members of the ensemble because there was no corpus delicti. Zhanna Aguzarova, who had problems with Moscow registration and passport, suffered the most - she was arrested and spent several months in a pre-trial detention center, and “Bravo” ended up on the well-known “black list” of prohibited teams, in which it occupied third or fourth place - after "Aquarium" with "Alice". However, during Zhanna's absence the group continued rehearsing. However, not believing in the possibility of further work for Bravo, the musicians began to leave the team. Bass guitarist Andrei Konusov went to Carnival, where he also played for a week and then ended his career as a bass guitarist forever. Instead, Timur Murtazaev, who played the double bass, came to Bravo. Alexander Stepanenko, who graduated from Gnesinka and simply needed concert practice, was invited to “Dynamic” by Vladimir Kuzmin. The departed saxophonist was replaced by Igor Andreev. During the “transitional” period, instead of Aguzarova, who wrote letters asking him to wait for her, Sergei Ryzhenko (“Football”, “Last Chance”, “Time Machine”) sang. The debut of the ensemble in the new composition took place at Alexander Lipnitsky’s birthday, which was celebrated at his dacha and where musicians from the groups “Kino”, “Aquarium” and “Zvuki Mu” were present among the guests. All of them took part in the festive concert, two years later the day after which Evgeniy Khavtan was expelled from MIIT.
To make it more convenient for the KGB to control the creativity of young people, in 1985 a creative rock music laboratory was created in Moscow, where Bravo was invited. Zhanna Aguzarova returned, the ensemble received the status of an amateur group, Alla Pugacheva became interested in them, and invited the guys to take part in the “Score 904” concert, which took place in 1986 after the tragedy in Chernobyl. After the television broadcast of this concert, in which the song “I Believe” was performed, “Bravo” opened the way to television. The same Pugacheva presented the artists in the “Musical Ring” program. On Zhanna’s recommendation, xylophonist and keyboard player Pavel Markazyan joined the group. At the same time, Bravo was invited to Rock Panorama-86, which took place in Central House Tourist. Recognized masters of rock music - Alexander Gradsky, "Time Machine" and "Autograph" - were against the participation of an unprofessional team in the festival. However, the guys performed their songs so desperately and famously that they received two awards at once - the audience award and the prize for the best show program. The then sharks of the nascent domestic show business could not remain indifferent to the fate of the young team. Valery Goldenberg invited Bravo to work at Moscow regional philharmonic society, and already in the status of philharmonic workers, the musicians took part in the Lituanika-86 festival, where their program was also recognized as the best. Believing that it is too early for Bravo to be professionals, Zhanna Aguzarova after another scandal left the group. The place at the microphone was taken by Anna Salmina, who sang the super hit “King Orange Summer”, which became the most popular composition of 1986 according to the “MK” Soundtrack poll. After Salmina, Tatyana Ruzaeva worked in the group for a short time, and then Zhanna Aguzarova decided to return to Bravo. In 1987, the Melodiya company released the Bravo record, which sold 5 million copies - it was for this circulation that Evgeniy Khavtan was paid a fee of 260 rubles. The band's performance at "Rock Panorama-87" was not as successful as the year before, because "Brigade S" loudly announced itself, and "Nautilus Pompilius" came from Sverdlovsk to conquer Moscow.
In 1988, Zhanna Aguzarova again left the group to pursue a solo career. “Bravo” held auditions for new vocalists, including Robert Lenz and Evgeniy Osin. The latter came to every rehearsal, begging to be hired as anyone, be it a drummer or a guitarist. In the end, his persistence won out - in 1989 he was taken into the group as a soloist. Together with Osin, the team recorded several things that were never published anywhere, however, two songs - “I’m sad and easy” and “Good evening, Moscow” - gained all-Union fame. A year later, Irina Epifanova sang in Bravo instead of the departed Evgeniy Osin. Ironically, her work at Bravo is also reminiscent of two songs - "Jamaica" and "Red Light". In the same 1990, Evgeniy Khavtan invited Valery Syutkin to the team. One of the main conditions of his work in the group was a change of hairstyle - Khavtan persuaded Valery to cut his hair long hair. One of the first joint works was the song “Vasya,” which launched the next round of popularity for “Bravo” - this was the second renaissance of the ensemble, its leader believes. The first concert with frontman Syutkin took place on August 25, 1990 in the city of Sumy, consisting of: E. Khavtan - guitar, V. Syutkin - vocals, I. Danilkin - drums, S. Lapin - bass, A. Ivanov - saxophone, S. Bushkevich - trumpet .
A year later, the album “Hipsters from Moscow” was released, and the record “Moscow Beat” was recorded. These two discs, plus the later Road to the Clouds, became the best-selling albums in Bravo history.
The period from 1991 to 1994 became the busiest in creative biography groups (more than 1000 concerts). The team gave a colossal number of concerts, filling stadiums and traveling the length and breadth of the country. In 1992, the disc “Moscow Beat” was released, and a year later, after a successful tour dedicated to its 10th anniversary, “Bravo” recorded “The Road to the Clouds.” The musicians were the first in our country to include a remix of the title song on this disc, which they did together with Alexey Solovyov and the Raketa group. The release of the album was preceded by the release of a single with “Road to the Clouds” and several other things. By the time the record was released on General Records in 1994, it became clear that Valery Syutkin was leaving the team for a solo career, as creative differences arose in Bravo over what the group would represent in the future.
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In the same 1994, the composition of "Bravo" was replenished with St. Petersburg bassist Dmitry Ashman, who played in the teams " Good night" and "Never trust hippies", Kuzin and Stepanenko returned. Robert Lentz ("Quiet Hour" and Message) was again invited to take the vacant position of vocalist, and this time he agreed. However, for some time "Bravo" hid the name of their new singer, conducting rehearsals in an atmosphere of secrecy and simultaneously recording the album “At the Crossroads of Spring,” which was released in 1996. The release of the disc was again preceded by the release of the single. right mood". In the spring, a presentation of the disc and program "At the Crossroads of Spring" took place at the State Central Concert Hall "Russia" - this was the first performance of "Bravo" with a new soloist at large site. At the last of three concerts, on May 24, fans of the group were in for a real surprise - at the end of the program, Zhanna Aguzarova, who had just returned from America (who had gone overseas in 1990), unexpectedly appeared on stage and sang “Cats” and “I Believe.”
The following year, the artists recorded “Hits About Love” - an album a little uncharacteristic of their usual style. At the end of 1997, the presentation of the single “Serenade 2000” took place, released in the original sleeve in the shape of a heart pierced by a guitar. “Serenade” itself was sung in a duet by Robert Lenz and the leader of “Bakhyt-kompot” Vadim Stepantsov. In general, Mr. Stepantsov wrote more than one text for “Bravo” - almost every album of the group contains compositions based on his poems.
“Hits About Love” was released in 1998 by Exprope. The team decided to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a grand tour"Bravomania" with three soloists - Robert Lenz, Zhanna Aguzarova and Valery Syutkin. However, after the fifth concert, Zhanna left her colleagues and returned to Moscow. Planned for autumn solo concerts at the State Central Concert Hall "Russia", completing "Bravomania", did not take place.
In 1999, the group members were engaged in their own projects. Alexander Stepanenko recorded two albums "Sea". Pavel Kuzin made a disc "Bravo, Zhanna" with remixes of best songs performed by Zhanna Aguzarova, Evgeniy Khavtan mastered the computer and studied virtual project"Mickey Mouse and Stilettos" In the summer, the musicians got together to start preparing material for the new album. The first single from it - "XX Century" - was released on December 6 on the collection "U-2" together with the young groups "Dancing Minus", Nike Borzov, "Cartoons"....!