A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz: Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

The third installment of A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz—a series developed with the cooperation of the Ukrainian Institute—introduces five more highly talented jazz artists/groups from Ukraine. The vast range of personal musical identities attests to the strength, depth and originality of contemporary Ukranian jazz.

Leléka

Victoria Leléka is the voice and driving force of Leléka, a multi-national folk-jazz quartet founded in Berlin in 2016. Fusing the improvisational freedom of jazz with Ukrainian folk, Leléka has harvested a heap of prizes that recognize the group's originality. A series of EPs, including music for the 12-part television historical saga There Will Be People (2020), paved the way for the band's debut full-length album, Sonce u Serci (GLM Music, 2021). Alongside timeless folk themes of love and nature, Leléka also addressed the Chernobyl disaster in darkly poetic terms.

"Marusyn Tatko" is a song about a father, walking through the afterlife, who begs God to allow him to return to Earth for his daughter's wedding. Leléka's haunting vocals are lent sympathetic support by Swedish pianist Povel Widestrand, Polish double bassist Thomas Kolarczyk and Danish drummer Jakob Hegner, but it is in the unison passage where wordless vocal and instruments combine powerfully that the magic lies. Widestrand's heavily folk-influenced solo is a delight, Leléka's voice a thing of beauty.

Fans of German/Azeri singer Simin Tander, and Dutch trio Beneath The Surface—both of whom combine poetry, folk and improvisation in utterly distinctive ways—should find plenty to love in Leléka.

Vadim Neselovskyi

Odesa-born, Germany-based pianist/composer Vadim Neselovskyi's debut solo album Music For September (2013) was a window onto his dual classical and jazz education, prompting one German newspaper to describe him as "the Chopin of jazz." Gary Burton, who wrote the album's liner notes went one further, opining: "I don't think I have ever met an improvisor who has more surprises in store ... a true genius." Comparisons with Brad Mehldau—check out Neselovskyi's cover of Freddie Hubbard's "Birdlike"—do not feel out of place.

Neselovskyi, however, was turning heads from a young age. The youngest ever student to enter the conservatory in Odesa, Neselovskyi continued his classical studies in Dortmund before immersing himself in jazz in Berklee College of Music. There he came onto the radar of Burton, who recruited Neselovskyi for his talent mentoring project—a band that also included guitarist Julian Lage. The resulting world tour and album, Next Generation (Concord Music Group, 2005) brought Neselovskyi to many people's attention, including the late John Winkelman of All About Jazz. In his review, Kelman reserved high praise for Neselovskyi: "More than just a strong pianist, he's a composer who blends form and freedom in new ways."

Three handsome duo recordings with horn multi-instrumentalist Arkady Shilkloper underlined Neselovskyi's lyricism and harmonic sophistication. Neselovskyi's all-round bag as a composer, a refined virtuoso and as a leader came to fruition with the splendid trio album Get Up And Go (Jazz Family, 2017), which AAJ's Dan Bilawksy described as "a life-affirming treasure of an album."

But it is from Neselovskyi's no less outstanding solo album Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City (Sunnyside Records, 2022) that we offer "Odesa Railway Station," a tour de force of dancing, tango-esque thrills and dazzling two-handed technique.

Yakiv Tsvietinskyi

Initially self-taught, trumpeter Yakiv Tsvietinskyi's early musical building blocks were sufficiently strong to take him on to classical music studies in Dnipro. With a passion for jazz, Tsvietinskyi was one of the first students in the Dnipro academy's nascent jazz department, eventually teaching the trumpet there. A Master's degree in jazz performance from Western Michigan University (where he spent two years), and a year in Basel, Switzerland as part of an ensemble residence program—where he was mentored by Ambrose Akinmusire—helped shape his compositional and performance skills.

The years of dedication, determination and study bore fruit in 2019 with the release of Tsvietinskyi's debut as leader, Minimalist (Seventh Lane Records), an album of refined compositional structure and lyrical interpretation. Pianist Misha Lyshenko, drummer Dyma Lytvynenko and double bassist Kristina Kirik all impress, but it is the leader's burnished tone, heard to striking effects on "Prelude 1," that sticks in the memory.

Misha Mendelenko

It only takes one spin of Misha Mendelenko's debut album, Strange Acquaintances (Feel For Reel, 2021) to appreciate his deep roots in the jazz guitar tradition—shades of Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell and Peter Bernstein abound. Mendelenko studied classical guitar from the age of 14—a grounding that no doubt explains his precise articulation—but was seduced by jazz and enrolled at the first opportunity in the jazz guitar program at the Kyiv Institute of Music. Shortly after graduating, in 2016, Mendelenko took first prize at the Vinnitsa International Jazz Competition. His talent also secured him podium finishes at Jazz Kolo Guitar Competition (2016, 2017) and the 4th International Jarek Śmietana Jazz Guitar Competition, in Poland (2021).

With Oleg Markov on drums, Konstantin Goryachy on Hammond organ, and featuring Victor Pavelko on tenor saxophone, Mendelenko follows in the tradition of the great jazz-organ combos of Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Joey DeFrancesco. The title track from Strange Acquaintances is a fine showcase for Mendelenko's tasteful chops.

Vadim Bessarab Trio

A graduate of the Odessa Conservatory, pianist Vadim Bessarab founded his trio with Maksym Kondratiev and drummer Andrey Goncharov in early 2020 and released its self-produced debut album, Differences, before the end of that year. Recorded by engineer Cyril Oleynikov in Bessarab's apartment, the album was nominated for Best Ukrainian Album of 2020 in the Aprize Music Awards. All About Jazz' Dan McClenaghan called it "a very promising debut," and it was, drawing on the classical European jazz piano tradition associated with ECM Records. Bessarab cites Bobo Stenson as an influence.

With the wind in its sails, Vadim Bessarab Trio wasted little time in producing Approximation (Self Produced, 2022), which retained the trio's signature sound while deepening and refining the collective dialog. From that album, "On Air" captures the trio, and Bessarab in particular, in achingly lyrical form. A piano trio that values form as well as freedom, space and lingering beauty.

Comments