Despite the current economic hardships, there are people who continue to create things that can invigorate many people with healthy energy. For example, pianist Oleksandr Saratsky combines the traditions of jazz, academic music, and Ukrainian folklore and has been creating this music “nectar” for many years. His ethnojazz may be called his calling card, widely known in close circles.
It is no wonder, therefore, that the soiree at the National Philharmonic Society attracted a large audience. In addition to his patent musical cocktail, the bills promised a significant “bonus” — the well-known band Kyivska kamerata headed by Valerii Matiukhin and the legendary singer Nina Matvienko, who has not previously taken part in any jazz concerts and announced a year ago that she was going to retire from the “big stage.” The program also included the singing group Orfei, the band Dva plus, and a dancing performance by the well-known tap-dancer Volodymyr Shpudeiko. The entire artistic ensemble aroused great interest among the audience.
The concert was very dynamic, and the combination of jazz, academic music, and Ukrainian folklore was quite surprising or, to be more precise, surprisingly unique. This was Saratsky’s merit because the program consisted of his works only. Why did a combination of overseas and our native tunes sound so natural? The reason must be that ironically sounding Ukrainian kolomyikas (folk ditties) are in harmony with playful jazz. This is, so to say, their common denominator that Saratsky brought to the audience in a masterly way. The concert has revealed another important feature: the elements of Ukrainian culture may be wonderfully combined with world culture, which includes jazz. This was shown by Saratsky’s extremely interesting arrangement of Hutsul kolomyikas in a jazz style.
There is more good news for all music-lovers: this concert is the first one in Saratsky’s big tour around Ukraine. According to the musician’s official website, it will continue in March and will involve regional bands. The concerts will be held in Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, and other cities.
