The Second International Yednist [Unity] Jazz Festival has become a major event in Kyiv musical life, a part of a one-day marathon concert at the Kyiv Officer’s House. There were four participants: the Little Band Academia children’s orchestra from Obolon conducted by Viktor and Iryna Basiuk, the Beauty Band Kyiv-based girls’ vocal quintet, Wood Quartet from Moscow, and Urban Connection trio all the way from Norway. Just like last year, the festival was organized by the Jazz Theater agency with the support of the city administration and sponsors. The concert was presided over by that omnipresent emcee at many jazz projects and popular commentator Oleksiy Kohan.
The children, who have more than once defended Ukraine’s honor on the international level, performed brilliantly. The girl’s ensemble also sounded perfect. Sopranos Susanna Dzhamaladinova, Oksana Riabokon, and Oksana Reznychenko, along with altos Olena Levchenko and Olena Ponomarenko, performed an extensive and diverse a cappella program including arrangements of popular vocal and instrumental jazz standards. They have significantly matured in terms of their skills, demonstrating brilliant technique, broad timbre range, a gift for improvising, and vivid temperament.
The Vikings trio has won the approval of the most exacting jazz critics. The Norwegians played conceptual intellectual music meant for a sophisticated audience. The Wood Quartet’s leader, Arkady Shilkloper, is well known to the Ukrainian public: he has performed at previous Yednist festival and given concerts in other Ukrainian cities. The concert ended with a joint performance in which the Muscovites played the leading role.
