Oleg Putyatin is perhaps most well known for his gigs playing bass guitar with the folk group U-Band at O’Brien’s every Wednesday and Thursday. But there is more in this musician’s repertoire than a few Irish jigs.
Putyatin is also the lead guitarist and frontman for Vsyak Vypadok, one of Kyiv’s most talented alternative jazz bands. And he recently appeared in a controversial play “UBN,” which came under fire by the Culture Ministry because of its political content. (See story, page 3).
Vsyak Vypadok rarely performs in Kyiv, Putyatin said, because Kyivans tend to be wary of anything new and unconventional.
Indeed, Vsyak Vypadok’s music is far from mainstream. With a style reminiscent of Pink Floyd and St. Petersburg’s Volkov Trio, the band is made up of creative musicians who truly enjoy playing together.
Free from stylistic boundaries, Vsyak Vypadok’s music allows listeners to drift freely and take in the sounds of the cello, saxophone, guitar, flute, oboe and drum.
The album “Dreamer’s Grass” (2000), includes intricate instrumental pieces that use a call-and-response technique, giving the illusion that the instruments are having a dialogue with each other. For example, in the single “Sin for Two” it sounds as if the cello is speaking with the guitar.
Putyatin says the band owes its rich and complex sound to the musicians’ collaborative efforts.
“Musicians influence each other in special ways and create things that solitary artists can never achieve,” Putyatin said.
From its early beginnings the band has always been tight. Vsyak Vypadok was initially formed in 1986 by Putyatin and two of his friends from Kyiv’s Gliere Music School. However, at that time the band was known as the jazz trio Sverchkovoye Chislo (Cricket Number).
Sverchkovoye Chislo performed its own compositions and was one of the few local jazz bands to tour in Great Britain, Finland, France and Germany.
In 1995, the band renamed itself Vsyak Vypadok and was nominated for “Best Rock Band” at the Chervona Ruta Festival.
The band’s latest appearance was in the play “UBN,” put on by Lviv’s Maria Zankovetska Theater in May. Performed in several Ukrainian cities, the play has attracted full houses and since January has received more than 70 reviews. Most of them have been positive.
The controversial play prompted a showdown between the theater and Ukraine’s Culture Ministry because of the play’s political spin. Although Culture Minister Bohdan Stupka banned the play in Kyiv, it was shown anyway at the Operetta on May 20-21.
In addition to composing and recording the play’s soundtrack, Vsyak Vypadok acts the part of a rock band and plays live on stage.
“[The performance] is work I can be proud of,” Putyatin said. Putyatin also takes pride in his current punk jazz project “Petya i Volki” (Peter and the Wolves).
The project features Vsyak Vypadok band members – Putyatin (bass guitar); Jack (guitar and vocals); Murchik (drums); Kim (oboe); Petya (soprano saxophone) and Misha (baritone saxophone and flute).
So far, Petya I Volki has been performed only twice: first in June 2000 and then at the Fall Jazz Marathon in September.
Petya I Volki is an evolving project. Its first program was a one-and-a-half hour show that featured variations on Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” J.S. Bach’s “Bourree” and the band’s own compositions.
“It’s punk, but much more lyrical and musical than Johnny Rotten or the Sex Pistols,” Putyatin said. “It’s more comparable to Frank Zappa.”
“The composition is born, flourishes and then dies,” Putyatin said. “That’s what the great composers did with their symphonies.”
The next performance of UBN will in Ternopil at Berezil Hall on June 13 and in Lviv at the Maria Zankovetska Theater on June 27.
Petya I Volki will be shown at Dynamo Lux sometime later this month or next month. The dates and times have not yet been determined.
