Mlada Concert in Kyiv

Well as I had mentioned in a previous post, I was planning to go to Mlada's concert on Tuesday March 13, and it did happen; however wasn't looking that positive on Monday. I went to the regular ticket outlets and no one seemed to know anything about the concert, so Monday night I dug up Mlada's business card and decided to call her on Tuesday morning.

When I called her I needed to put in the preamble of how we had met at a CD launch of another band. It was great she actually remembered me and told me that tickets would be available free in the vestibule of Ukrainian House, half an hour before the show was to start.

With a few meetings in the afternoon, in downtown Kyiv it made it ideal timing in order to get the show on time.

Well as it turned out the show was being put on by Ihor Zakus, Tempora Publishing and some other organization as part of a series of concerts entitled Jazz-Kolo. Oleksiy Kohan, a well known jazz promoter in Ukraine was the MC. Tempora is not new to this area of supporting the arts and contemporary music in Ukraine. While not many know it but they were one of the businesses behind the Don't Be Indifferent [Ne bud' Baduzhym] series of concerts.

Like most things in Ukraine, the concert started about half an hour late, it appears that the many of the musicians were giving interviews to the local TV channels.

The concert was everything I expected, it was truly a unique fusion of Ukrainian ethnic motifs and jazz done on a very professional level. At times it was even meditative. After the show I saw a friend who said to me, "That was so relaxing that I dozed off for a while - very pleasurable!"

So if you ever get a chance to take a listen to Mlada, and you are familiar with Ukrainian music and like jazz, I am sure you will like not only Mlada's vocals, but also the musicians accompanying her.

A Totally Different Sound

While I may not be able to make it to Ternopil on March 14 I have yet another option on the 13th. While not all of you may be familiar with her, I had the of meeting her at the release of Ochertyanyi Kit's last album some time in the early summer of 2006. After doing some interviews with the guys in the band as well as with Eduard Drach, I was approached by a young woman with a very pleasant smile. I recall seeing her on the bus that UkrMusic had rented to get people out to Trukhaniv Island for the launch party. She asked me if I was a journalist. "Well yes that is one of the things I do I replied!" She handed me her CD and then we chatted for a little while. I think I will definitely go to her concert. I would like to chat with her again.

Here real name is Maryna Yurasova and if you really want to add a few interesting Jazz arrangements of traditional Ukrainian music to your MP3 collection you ought to visit her website at www.mlada.com.ua.