Today, I received an e-mail from good friend of mine Myroslav Levytsky, it was not good news! The subject line read Andrij Valaha and that was it. The only time I receive such short messages they indicate bad news. The message was almost telegraphic: "he did not regain consciousness, Andriy Valaha died".
On October 30, 2009 Andriy suffered an aneurysm. This is the same thing which struck his musical career short after the Chervona Ruta festival in 1993. Andriy was the first fiddle/violin vocalist of Braty bluzu.
In 2001 in a visit to Kalush I lived with Andriy and his wife for a number of days and will always remember his spirit for life even though things were not easy, not being able to either play his violin nor sing with his friends.
May you Rest in Peace my friend.
Vichna yomu Pamjat'!
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Showing posts with label Braty bluzu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Braty bluzu. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Taking on a new shape...
Well just over a week has passed since I was at a concert at Art Club 44 in the heart of Kyiv. It was on Halloween night, and like many places the staff at that establishment were all ghouled up... Like any other thing here in Ukraine, if it can be commercially feasible, then go along with it, and Halloween is no different, no matter what the Russian Orthodox Church's take on the day is.
The band performing and its musicians can be considered dinosaurs when compared to many of the bands that have developed in the last five years here in Ukraine, however, this should be understood in a positive sense. On July 24, 2007 Braty bluzu held a 15th Anniversary Reunion gig, and more than a year has passed since then and given I was in Montreal for business at that time, I will not be able to compare that gig to this last one. All I can say is, that it was different than what I had ever experienced from Braty bluzu before.
Having arrived at 44 at about 21:40 there was already no where to sit, except right next to the stage, well that wasn't even sitting, it was leaning against a pillar. I was expecting to be joined by a couple of friends and wondered where they would fit in. About ten minutes prior to when the show was to start I first saw Myroslav Levytsky, lead man and composer for the group, and in a short time his brother Oleh wandered by. I gave him my hand and embraced him... and congratulated him on the birth of his daughter, his first child, at the beginning of June of this year. It didn't take him long to pull out his phone to show me pictures of her. Clearly a very proud father!
Not far behind in his footsteps was Serhiy Taftay, who now spends his time between my home of Montreal and Ukraine. Serhiy greeted me, "Bonjour, ça va?" and then said to me, "What about those Habs!" Referring to the Montreal Canadians hockey team. Blair, if you are reading this... our fellow Canadian Jason, said that Serhiy reminds him of you... but of course with a little more hair and bushier eye brows. But nonetheless a Habs fan!
The next of the band members I ran into was a relative newcomer to Braty bluzu, but old friend of mine Vitaliy Savenko, and former bass player with Gaytana. "Of course, where else would I run into you?" said Vitaliy as he shook my hand.
In a sprightly rhythm Andriy Vintsersky the group's drummer bounded by Vitaliy and I but not with out shaking my hand and smiling as he bound up on to the stage and started to set up his high-hat. Vinnia as his friends call him is a powder keg of energy for his small stature. I stand a head and a bit taller than him!
Then to top it all off I saw a familiar face. It is hard to even express what it meant for me to see Zakhar Valaha! Now I must digress in order for those of you who are not familiar with the history of the band. In the beginning, the group's front man was Andriy Valaha, Zakhar's father. In 1993 after receiving the Grand Prix at the Chervona Ruta Festival in Donetsk, and while still in Donetsk, Andriy Valaha suffered an aneurysm, as a result Andriy would never play with his fellow musicians again. Though a few years ago Myroslav Levytsky asked Zakhar to join him on the occasions when Kyrylo Stetsenko, grandson of the famous Ukrainian composer, was not available to join the group to play violin.
Having, stayed with Andriy Valaha in Kalush, Ukraine in 2001, I could only imagine what it must mean to him for Myroslav to bring his son in to play with his former fellow brothers in arms.
Well, maybe these digressions are a little to much for some of you so I will get on with the gig itself, but at the same time they are important in understanding the history of the contemporary Ukrainian music scene.
As the first set opened, there was a sound that I was not expecting! I finally had a feeling that I had done the right thing in both morally and financially assisting Myroslav Levytsky in attending a Professional Development session at the Banff Centre in the winter of 2004. I listened and thought to myself, "This has to be the influence of Jeffery Goldberg under whom Myroslav had studied at Banff!"
As the first set continued there were a lot of surprises, the interplay of keyboards, saxophone, guitar and bass surprised me. It was a totally new shape, a new pentagon of sound. With girls in their early twenties moving and grooving to the music, clearly indicated to me that there was new generation of people in Ukraine with a different taste in music, and thank goodness.
Somewhere, with a few tunes left in the first set, my friend Jason showed up. As a musician, I could clearly see that he was was enjoying what he was hearing.
During the break between the first and second sets, I introduced Jason to the musicians. Clearly, there was an appreciative tone in his voice toward them, as well as from others, that Myroslav said to me this morning, "people I have never seen before."
As the second set began, I began to hear compositions I was familiar with, including a different arrangement of Vienna Woods which I was witness to the birth of in June of 2001 at Bizzy Man Studio run by Rens Newland. Unlike the pastoral sound recorded for the first time in Vienna, this arrangement with Taftay on guitar had a totally different ring to it.
As usual, Oleh Levytsky was applauded by all for his sax work, and during the second set the younger Valaha had an opportunity to demonstrate the skills that his father had passed on to him, if not through a lot of hard work, it was clearly genetically.
I truly hope that the materials of the first set make it into studio... A new shape in an new era is what Braty bluzu needs.
So some of you are probably wondering why it took me a week to write this... Let's just say I needed to consult with Levytsky about his first set...
The band performing and its musicians can be considered dinosaurs when compared to many of the bands that have developed in the last five years here in Ukraine, however, this should be understood in a positive sense. On July 24, 2007 Braty bluzu held a 15th Anniversary Reunion gig, and more than a year has passed since then and given I was in Montreal for business at that time, I will not be able to compare that gig to this last one. All I can say is, that it was different than what I had ever experienced from Braty bluzu before.
Having arrived at 44 at about 21:40 there was already no where to sit, except right next to the stage, well that wasn't even sitting, it was leaning against a pillar. I was expecting to be joined by a couple of friends and wondered where they would fit in. About ten minutes prior to when the show was to start I first saw Myroslav Levytsky, lead man and composer for the group, and in a short time his brother Oleh wandered by. I gave him my hand and embraced him... and congratulated him on the birth of his daughter, his first child, at the beginning of June of this year. It didn't take him long to pull out his phone to show me pictures of her. Clearly a very proud father!
Not far behind in his footsteps was Serhiy Taftay, who now spends his time between my home of Montreal and Ukraine. Serhiy greeted me, "Bonjour, ça va?" and then said to me, "What about those Habs!" Referring to the Montreal Canadians hockey team. Blair, if you are reading this... our fellow Canadian Jason, said that Serhiy reminds him of you... but of course with a little more hair and bushier eye brows. But nonetheless a Habs fan!
The next of the band members I ran into was a relative newcomer to Braty bluzu, but old friend of mine Vitaliy Savenko, and former bass player with Gaytana. "Of course, where else would I run into you?" said Vitaliy as he shook my hand.
In a sprightly rhythm Andriy Vintsersky the group's drummer bounded by Vitaliy and I but not with out shaking my hand and smiling as he bound up on to the stage and started to set up his high-hat. Vinnia as his friends call him is a powder keg of energy for his small stature. I stand a head and a bit taller than him!
Then to top it all off I saw a familiar face. It is hard to even express what it meant for me to see Zakhar Valaha! Now I must digress in order for those of you who are not familiar with the history of the band. In the beginning, the group's front man was Andriy Valaha, Zakhar's father. In 1993 after receiving the Grand Prix at the Chervona Ruta Festival in Donetsk, and while still in Donetsk, Andriy Valaha suffered an aneurysm, as a result Andriy would never play with his fellow musicians again. Though a few years ago Myroslav Levytsky asked Zakhar to join him on the occasions when Kyrylo Stetsenko, grandson of the famous Ukrainian composer, was not available to join the group to play violin.
Having, stayed with Andriy Valaha in Kalush, Ukraine in 2001, I could only imagine what it must mean to him for Myroslav to bring his son in to play with his former fellow brothers in arms.
Well, maybe these digressions are a little to much for some of you so I will get on with the gig itself, but at the same time they are important in understanding the history of the contemporary Ukrainian music scene.
As the first set opened, there was a sound that I was not expecting! I finally had a feeling that I had done the right thing in both morally and financially assisting Myroslav Levytsky in attending a Professional Development session at the Banff Centre in the winter of 2004. I listened and thought to myself, "This has to be the influence of Jeffery Goldberg under whom Myroslav had studied at Banff!"
As the first set continued there were a lot of surprises, the interplay of keyboards, saxophone, guitar and bass surprised me. It was a totally new shape, a new pentagon of sound. With girls in their early twenties moving and grooving to the music, clearly indicated to me that there was new generation of people in Ukraine with a different taste in music, and thank goodness.
Somewhere, with a few tunes left in the first set, my friend Jason showed up. As a musician, I could clearly see that he was was enjoying what he was hearing.
During the break between the first and second sets, I introduced Jason to the musicians. Clearly, there was an appreciative tone in his voice toward them, as well as from others, that Myroslav said to me this morning, "people I have never seen before."
As the second set began, I began to hear compositions I was familiar with, including a different arrangement of Vienna Woods which I was witness to the birth of in June of 2001 at Bizzy Man Studio run by Rens Newland. Unlike the pastoral sound recorded for the first time in Vienna, this arrangement with Taftay on guitar had a totally different ring to it.
As usual, Oleh Levytsky was applauded by all for his sax work, and during the second set the younger Valaha had an opportunity to demonstrate the skills that his father had passed on to him, if not through a lot of hard work, it was clearly genetically.
I truly hope that the materials of the first set make it into studio... A new shape in an new era is what Braty bluzu needs.
So some of you are probably wondering why it took me a week to write this... Let's just say I needed to consult with Levytsky about his first set...
Friday, June 29, 2007
The story of Serhiy Taftay's guitar
Many years before Braty bluzu was formed Serhiy Taftay played with many different groups. In the early 1980s while playing with one group in Western Ukraine he simply wanted to have the best possible instrument, so he somehow managed to scrape together 6,000 Rubles to by himself a Gibson Les Paul guitar and he did. I don't know what the official exchange rate was at that time, but in 1985, while studying in Leningrad, I had received 100 Rubles from my uncle as a gift, I had a damn hard time spending it. I during a whole week I would take 5-6 friends out for dinner every night, still had lots of money left over. Officially, the rate at the time, if my memory serves me was about 2 Roubles for every US Dollar.
While playing in somewhere near Voronezh, Russia, with the band he was with at the time his guitar was stolen before one of the gigs. A number of years later, some Ukrainian musicians were in Moscow at a gig, one of them noticed Andrei Makarevich the cofounder of the group Mashina Vremeni a popular Soviet rock band, which had even achieved cult status, had Taftay's guitar. When he was asked where he got it, his reply was, "I bought it from someone!"
From musicians I know from the period, it turns out that the theft of Taftay's guitar became quite a legend during the 1980s before the collapse of the SU.
While playing in somewhere near Voronezh, Russia, with the band he was with at the time his guitar was stolen before one of the gigs. A number of years later, some Ukrainian musicians were in Moscow at a gig, one of them noticed Andrei Makarevich the cofounder of the group Mashina Vremeni a popular Soviet rock band, which had even achieved cult status, had Taftay's guitar. When he was asked where he got it, his reply was, "I bought it from someone!"
From musicians I know from the period, it turns out that the theft of Taftay's guitar became quite a legend during the 1980s before the collapse of the SU.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
15th Anniversary Reunion Gig
Well it's now final, well at least according lead man and composer of Braty bluzu.
The 15th Anniversary reunion concert of Braty bluzu will be taking place on Tuesday July 24, 2007. The last time these guys played together, if I am not mistaken, was a gig at in New York City in about 2003.
While the line-up won't completely include the original members it's pretty close. For those who ever managed to see Gaytana perform with Unity at the now defunct Cowboy Club, which was located where Docker ABC is now located at the end of Passage in Kyiv, then you may notice a familiar face.
Andriy Melnyk, the group's bass player will be replaced by Vitaliy Savenko, the old Unity bass player. In short the line-up will look like the one below.
Myroslav Levytsky - Keyboards
Oleh Levytsky - Saxophone
Guitar - Serhiy Taftay
Bass Guitar - Vitaliy Savenko
Drums - Andriy Vintsersky
Finally I will meet Serhiy Taftay, whom Simon Kouklevsky of Ukrainian Time in Montreal was supposed to introduce me to a number of years back when I was home for a visit.
Over the last couple of weeks Myroslav Levytsky has been journeying between Ivano-Frankivsk, where he has been conducting rehearsals with his brother Oleh and Taftay who is visiting family, and Kyiv where rehearsals are taking place with Savenko and Vitsersky.
It may be a long time before such a line-up is assembled again, given the physical locations of its members.
Gig Location: Khmilna Botchka, 3 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho
Date: July 24, 2007
Start time: 21:00
Price: 50 UAH
For more information or to obtain tickets please e-mail bb15rokiv (at) gmail.com
The 15th Anniversary reunion concert of Braty bluzu will be taking place on Tuesday July 24, 2007. The last time these guys played together, if I am not mistaken, was a gig at in New York City in about 2003.
While the line-up won't completely include the original members it's pretty close. For those who ever managed to see Gaytana perform with Unity at the now defunct Cowboy Club, which was located where Docker ABC is now located at the end of Passage in Kyiv, then you may notice a familiar face.
Andriy Melnyk, the group's bass player will be replaced by Vitaliy Savenko, the old Unity bass player. In short the line-up will look like the one below.
Myroslav Levytsky - Keyboards
Oleh Levytsky - Saxophone
Guitar - Serhiy Taftay
Bass Guitar - Vitaliy Savenko
Drums - Andriy Vintsersky
Finally I will meet Serhiy Taftay, whom Simon Kouklevsky of Ukrainian Time in Montreal was supposed to introduce me to a number of years back when I was home for a visit.
Over the last couple of weeks Myroslav Levytsky has been journeying between Ivano-Frankivsk, where he has been conducting rehearsals with his brother Oleh and Taftay who is visiting family, and Kyiv where rehearsals are taking place with Savenko and Vitsersky.
It may be a long time before such a line-up is assembled again, given the physical locations of its members.
Gig Location: Khmilna Botchka, 3 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho
Date: July 24, 2007
Start time: 21:00
Price: 50 UAH
For more information or to obtain tickets please e-mail bb15rokiv (at) gmail.com
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Ukrainian musicians to descend on Budapest
Back in 1998 Myroslav Levytsky and Braty bluzu performed on the main stage at the Pepsi-Sziget Festival as the first Ukrainian group to perform. There he met Canadian Lionel Lodge which eventually led to work with both Lionel and Rens Newland on the Music Without Borders project.
Later on in 1999 Mandry headed off to Pepsi-Sziget.
Shortly thereafter, the festival dropped Pepsi from their name, I suspect their sponsorship contract had come to an end.
Last year Mad Heads XL made their way to the Sziget. At the time I had a little bit of a conflict with the Kyiv Post for claiming that they were the first Ukrainian group to perform at the festival. While the writer at the Kyiv Post tried to find all the Ukrainian bands who had performed at the festival, it was unfortunate that the festival's archive did not go very far back.
While they are still not listed on the official site yet, SUMNO.COM reported that that TNMK and Esthetic Education will both be featured in this year's line up of over 80 performers from all over the face of the planet.
Later on in 1999 Mandry headed off to Pepsi-Sziget.
Shortly thereafter, the festival dropped Pepsi from their name, I suspect their sponsorship contract had come to an end.
Last year Mad Heads XL made their way to the Sziget. At the time I had a little bit of a conflict with the Kyiv Post for claiming that they were the first Ukrainian group to perform at the festival. While the writer at the Kyiv Post tried to find all the Ukrainian bands who had performed at the festival, it was unfortunate that the festival's archive did not go very far back.
While they are still not listed on the official site yet, SUMNO.COM reported that that TNMK and Esthetic Education will both be featured in this year's line up of over 80 performers from all over the face of the planet.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
More on 15 years of Braty bluzu
As mentioned below Braty bluzu will be 15 years old this summer. Wow how time flies.
Well I learnt this morning from Myroslav Levytsky that the concert he has planned for the 15th Anniversary of Braty bluzu is not to be held in June, but actually it will be held in the same location as mentioned below, but on July 19, 2007.
Well I learnt this morning from Myroslav Levytsky that the concert he has planned for the 15th Anniversary of Braty bluzu is not to be held in June, but actually it will be held in the same location as mentioned below, but on July 19, 2007.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
15 years of Braty bluzu
I have it from a pretty good source, no other than the composer and lead man of Braty bluzu, Myroslav Levytsky, that he is planning a 15th Anniversary concert for some time in June. While I have no final date, I do have a location...
The gig is supposed to take place at the Architect's Building on Borysa Hrinchenka Street right off of Maydan Nezalezhnosti, towards the top of the street where it passed through the arch and merges with Prorizna Street.
When I have more information I will post it here.
The gig is supposed to take place at the Architect's Building on Borysa Hrinchenka Street right off of Maydan Nezalezhnosti, towards the top of the street where it passed through the arch and merges with Prorizna Street.
When I have more information I will post it here.
Friday, January 26, 2007
A Happy Birthday To Myroslav Levytsky
Myroslav Levytsky, composer and lead man of Braty bluzu, which won the Grand Prix at the Chervona Ruta festival in 1993, turned 40-something today. The band's name is often confused in its meaning, and is translated as "Blues Brothers", but in fact it is a western Ukrainian expression which means to take one's jacket and go out on the town.
Levytsky has released three albums. The first self entitled CD was released in 2000. Shortly before that he had met Canadian Lionel Lodge at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, which led to working on a project called Music Without Borders together with Lionel and his friend Rens Newland - after performing the project in Linz, Austria on June 9, 2001 - Levytsky together with Newland put down the foundation of what would be his Vienna Woods album, and released it in 2002.
In 2004 Levytsky participated in the Banff Center for the Performing Arts professional development program, and as a result released his Session in Banff in the spring of 2005. Currently Levytsky is working on new material based on the Romeo and Juliet theme.
Levytsky has released three albums. The first self entitled CD was released in 2000. Shortly before that he had met Canadian Lionel Lodge at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, which led to working on a project called Music Without Borders together with Lionel and his friend Rens Newland - after performing the project in Linz, Austria on June 9, 2001 - Levytsky together with Newland put down the foundation of what would be his Vienna Woods album, and released it in 2002.
In 2004 Levytsky participated in the Banff Center for the Performing Arts professional development program, and as a result released his Session in Banff in the spring of 2005. Currently Levytsky is working on new material based on the Romeo and Juliet theme.
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