A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz: Part 1

The history of jazz in Ukraine can be traced fairly precisely according to academic, literature teacher and jazz journalist Alexander Yudin. Writing in The History Of European Jazz: The Music, Musicians And Audience in Context (Equinox Publishing, 2018), Yudin credits Yuliy Meitus with leading the country's first jazz band. Meitus' band, which consisted of vibraphone, violin, drums and percussion, reportedly gave the first jazz concert in Ukraine on December 29, 1925. The concert took place in Kharkiv, "with the band playing popular European songs and also original compositions."

No doubt the Ukrainian jazz of a century ago sounded quite a bit different to the Ukrainian jazz of today. Not that it is really possible to speak of a Ukrainian jazz sound, so diverse is the music emanating from this vast country of 33 million inhabitants. Ukrainian folk music does provide one source of inspiration for many Ukrainian jazz musicians—and perhaps increasingly so since the Russian invasion of 2014 and the escalation into all-out war that began in 2022—but American jazz from bebop to hard-bop, and from free-jazz to big-band swing, European classical, electronica, free-improvisation and rock also inspire today's jazz musicians in Ukraine.

As the title of this article suggests, this is not intended as a deep dive into the history of Ukrainian jazz (the chapter on Ukraine in aforementioned book is an excellent starting point) but rather a rough guide to some of Ukraine's most outstanding contemporary jazz musicians and ensembles. Most of the musicians featured were born after Ukraine achieved independence in 1991 upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

In addition to highlighting key Ukrainian jazz figures, both those living in Ukraine and those based abroad, this multiple-part series on Ukrainian jazz will also draw attention to the country's jazz clubs and jazz festivals, the music's promoters and its champions. A separate article will examine the effects of Putin's war on Ukraine's jazz ecosystem, with an emphasis on the positive, that is to say, the inspiring activism, creativity and solidarity that the Ukrainian jazz community has responded with, in the face of a brutal, existential war.

Dennis Adu

Talk about a change in climate! Dennis Adu's family immigrated to Ukraine from Ghana when he was two years old. Adu was seven when he began learning the trumpet. He has never looked back. Awards recognizing his talent duly followed. Studies with Alex Sipiagin and Joe Magnarelli gave Adu a firm foundation from which to launch his career as a leader.

Heading ensembles both small and large, Adu's international collaborations include Linda May Han Oh—bassist on Adu's debut album Influences (LabelWhoAble, 2017)—Wayne Escoffery, Gregory Porter, Frank Lacy, Curtis Fuller, Seamus Blake and John Hollenbeck, amongst others. As senior lecturer in the Department of Jazz Music and director of Glier Kyiv Music Academy Jazz Orchestra, Adu is helping to shape the future of jazz in Ukraine.

"Apple Seeds" from Adu's second album, Sunlight Above The Sky (LabelWhoAble, 2021) is a handsome showcase for Adu's all-round skills as a composer, arranger and musician. There are notable solos from tenor saxophonist Lucas Pino and alto saxophonist Boris Mgylevskyi, but it is Adu's rich arrangements for the horns as a unit—also featuring Alexander Charkin on trombone—that really stand out. Drummer Pavel Galitsky, double bassist Oleksandr Yemets and New York-based Glenn Zaleski round out a terrific septet that swings like a veritable big band.

Konstantin Ionenko

A regular figure on the Ukrainian jazz scene since the early 2000s, Kharkiv-born, Kyiv-based Konstantin Ionenko is a bassist, composer and educator who has toured extensively throughout Europe and beyond. Ionenko came to wider international attention in 2015 with the releases of the Konstantin Ionenko Quintet's Deep Immersion and the co-led quartet Deep Tone Project's Flow, both on the Fancy Music label.

Deep Immersion, a lively hard-bop affair features alto saxophone Dmitri Shlelein, Dennis Adu on trumpet and flugelhorn, pianist Pavel Litvinenko and Pavel Galitsky on drums. In his review, AAJ's Bud Kopman had this to say: "subtle, inviting and yet vaguely dangerous ... Ionenko's music is deeply felt." Flow drew effusive praise from Karl Ackermann, who described it as "world class music... a distinctly modern and deftly textured crafting of classical elements and European chamber jazz."

From Deep Tone Project's third album, Onward (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2016) we offer "Dubious Pleasure," which balances chamber-esque refinement and unharnessed energy. First-rate solos from tenor saxophonist Victor Pavelko and guitarist Aleksandr Pavlov set sparks flying, while Ionenko on electric bass and Pavel Galitsky on drums provide unobtrusive yet lithe rhythms that are fundamental in providing the music with its edge.

Kateryna Ziabliuk

Kateryna Ziabliuk wears many hats. Pianist, singer, composer, accordionist, percussionist and journalist, the Ukrainian-born, Poland-based artist is as much at home in free improvisation as she is composing, while the traditional music of her homeland also informs her playing. Ziabliuk performs solo, in the duo TANŌK with singer Natalia Kordiak, and in many one-off settings the range of which speak to her adventurous spirit.

At times her approach to the piano echoes Cecil Taylor at his most dynamic—just check out "Aw" from the 2022 live album Live at SPATif with bassist Kamila Drabek and drummer Patrycja Wybrańczyk. At other times, her playing is as serene and lyrical as a Chopin nocturne.

In 2021 Ziabliuk gave a solo concert at the Enjoy Jazz Festival in, Germany. "Piper's Melody" from the resulting live album Live at Enjoy Jazz Festival finds Ziabliuk in tantalizingly explorative mood. A left-hand motif provides the ballast while her right roams freely and playfully, intoning the blues, flirting with stride, climbing and tumbling, always dancing.

Danylo Vinarikov

Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Danylo Vinarikov launched Dark Side Trio with the self-produced album Old Bookcase (2018). Vinarikov, on tenor saxophone, Misha Lyshenko on piano and keyboards, and Dima Lytvynenko on drums eschewed weary old jazz tropes to ply music as distinctive as it is contemporary (check out "Astronomy").

For its sophomore outing, Industrial Song (2020), the core trio was augmented by trumpeter Yakiv Tsvietinskyi, guitarist Konstantin Ivchuk and bassist Serhii Artemov, the latter who lost his life in the defense of Ukraine in 2023 (see tribute here). Inevitably with such reinforcements the music had evolved, with greater melodic and harmonic emphasis—and more solos to boot.

Vinarikov, who also leads the Dnipro Big Band, perhaps felt the limitations of the trio format, as shortly afterwards he changed the name to Danylo Vinarikov Ensemble. From Industrial Song "Zeppelinstrasse" highlights both Vinarikov's compositional sensitivity as well as his chops—measured, lyrical and affecting.

Alina Bzhezhinska

Hip hip hooray for hip hop harp! Hip-hop jazz harp at that! Award-winning harpist Alina Bzhezhinska expands upon the small but glorious lineage of jazz harp trailblazed by Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane in the '50s and '60. There are certainly more jazz harpists in currency today than ever before, but none have taken quite as original a path with the instrument as London-based Bzhezhinska, whose album Reflections (BBE Records, 2022) infused hip-hop, funk and jazz to glorious effect.

Bzhezhinska's short but stellar discography got off to a flyer with Inspiration (Ubuntu Music, 2018), her thrilling tribute to Alice Coltrane, with saxophonist Tony Kofi ,double bassist Larry Bartley and drummer Joel Prime. With Kofi in particular, Bzhezhinska has forged a deep working bond, one that is keenly felt on record (recommended their wonderful duo album Altera Vita, BBE records, 2024) and in their live collaborations.

Writing on Bzhezhinska, the late, great Chris May opined: "Bzhezhinska has a formidable technique which includes conjuring an unusually wide range of timbral qualities from the often monochrome harp. She is further equipped with something you cannot learn: soul, which she has in spades." High praise indeed.

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