Back in 1969, Volodymyr Kushpet, Heorhy Hrabar, Kost Novytsky, and Oleksandr Zuyev, then Kyiv Conservatory students, put together a folk rock group that was destined to become one of the most outstanding Ukrainian pop music groups of all time. In 1971 they were joined by Valery Viter, who had performed with Berezen, another very popular group sired by Aleksandr Avakian, a talented poet and archaeologist.
In the spring of 1971 Kobza recorded their first LP with the Soviet Melodia Company (in fact, it was the first Soviet stereo LP) and gave their first solo concert at the Slavutych Culture Club on October 20. The fall of 1971 marked a turning point in Kobza’s history, which triggered events that unfolded over the next three decades.
The group was completely revamped in the spring of 2004, with young, talented musicians performing alongside the founding veterans. “Fresh blood and fresh music. We wanted to create a new and exclusive Kobza sound that would fit in with the start of the new millennium,” says Andriy Tolchanov, director of Kyiv’s famous Dynasty Studio, who came up with the idea to reorganize the group by focusing on Valery Viter’s classical vocals (the band’s trademark and source of the Kobza phenomenon). However, what made the situation especially interesting was the existence of another Kobza headed by Yevhen Kovalenko, which continued to exist after Valery Viter and the other founding musicians quit in 1987.
In fact, Kovalenko’s Kobza barely kept afloat, and for years its repertoire remained unchanged. Andriy Tolchanov and his Dynasty Studio helped them overcome a period of creative stagnation. An album was released, several songs were recorded with the pop idol group Tanok na Maidani Konho (Dance on Congo Square), an excellent video was made, a CD single called “Kobza+TNMK” was released, and a gala solo concert was held at the Ukraine Palace. Dynasty invested heavily in Kovalenko’s Kobza, but nothing came of this. Then Andriy Tolchanov invited the two Kobza frontmen to join his efforts to preserve the band’s trademark sound. Yevhen was invited to join the revamped Kobza on an equal footing and keep working. Neither of the frontmen had communicated with each other for the last ten years. But Kovalenko declined and over the studio’s protests, continued using the tracks that had been laid down with Dynasty money.
Meanwhile, Valery Viter’s new-old Kobza set up a concert program, recorded an album (now being mixed), gave a couple of concerts, and the band is now getting ready for a tour of Canada and the US.
For Valery Viter and his Kobza, last year culminated in a performance on the Maidan at the peak of the Orange Revolution.
“We’ve never had such mind-boggling success as on the Maidan, not in Ukraine or any other country,” says Valery Viter. “We experienced an absolutely unique moment of people rallying for the truth. Backstage I met with a lot of musicians that I hadn’t seen for a long time. They were all so charged up with enthusiasm and brimming over with such energy, I still can’t describe it. That performance on the Maidan was extremely important for us because this was the first time that the new group had played for several hundred thousand people, I mean we played for all of Ukraine. By the way, we have musicians from various regions of Ukraine: Valery Darchenko (guitar) is from Kremenchuk; Oleksandr Rud (bass guitar) from Poltava, he played with Kraiany, another very popular group; Oleksandr Milav (drums) from Kirovohrad; Dmytro Lytvynets (keyboard and sax), who at 19 is our youngest musician. Finally, the veteran trio: flutist and vocalist Heorhy Hrabar, vocalist Ihor Kuryliv, and yours truly, soloist and artistic director. Interestingly enough, the very first songs recorded by this Kobza attracted some interest overseas.
“Recently a well-known Canadian manager offered us a concert tour of the States and Canada this May: 30 solo concerts. But I hope we’ll have some concerts in Ukraine before the start of the tour. We’ll be touring with our new album called Poviy, vitre, z Ukrayiny (Blow, wind, from Ukraine, the title of an old Ukrainian romance). It features a collection of popular old songs like Dyvlius ya na nebo, Stoyit hora vysokaya, and others, in totally new and sometimes totally unexpected arrangements. Most importantly, these songs retain their original flavor and color, while acquiring different dynamics — it’s as though new life has been breathed into them. In a word, we have something to surprise our audiences.”
