"He was a great enthusiast of his work, and he devoted himself entirely to it. A man of principle and an outspoken person, he surrounded himself with aspiring and talented people. He valued thoughtful people persistent on the way to their goal. He went above and beyond for the sake of his family and students. Very good at organizing other people. A very kind and man with a warm personality... "(Vladimir Sheinin, drummer, A. Makurov's student)
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CD: Anatoly, you’ve been teaching for over 30 years. Tell us, what kind of students interests you?
Anatoly: First of all, he must be a thinker and a great music lover. It is necessary that he desires to learn playing drums and acknowledges that a drummer is a very tough profession, which requires a lot of hard and exhausting work, but which eventually brings great satisfaction and pleasure. He must be a true fanatic of drums.
CD: How did you become a drummer?
Anatoly: When I was a little boy, I was charmed by melodies like “Riorita”, “The sun valley serenade”, “Silver guitar” and I unconsciously drummed out the rhythms with my fingers…In 1960 I attended the drums section in the House of Pioneers, and then joined the district brass band. In a year I applied to a musical school, where fate brought me together with a great teacher – Anatoly Knorre. With his tremendous help I became a member of the RCAC (Railway men’s Central Arts Centre) Grand Symphony Orchestra, which mainly consisted of mature students of the Gnesinikh school and institute, and conservatory students…and I was only 11 at that time! We played a lot of fantastic music – Beethoven, Dvorjak, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, Strauss. These were ones of the happiest years! When I turned 14 I attended the symphony orchestra, which consisted of The Grand Theatre retirees. My repertoire expanded with pieces like “Bolero” by Ravel, Shostakovich’s 7th symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony and many others. In another year I got into a jazz orchestra, where, for the first time in my life, I sat behind a real drum kit. This turned my life over completely and determined my future destiny. Jazz music attracted me completely. I dropped out of all symphony orchestras and started preparing for the entrance exams to the music school, which I successfully joined in 1966.
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