She sings soul and jazz, avoids lip-synching and once performed in the classic opera La Traviata. She is young, beautiful and stylish. She is Jamala.
Ukrainian soul singer Susana Jamaladinova – the artist’s real name – started her career in music early, but was aiming for the opera stage, not show business. She even performed as Violetta in Verdi’s classical Traviata while studying at the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kyiv. But her love for jazz and soul pushed her out of the opera house and straight to fame.
Jamala was born into an Armenian-Crimean Tatar family, but grew up in Ukraine. When she hears that her music is sometimes referred to as “Crimean Tatar jazz” she laughs and says: “That’s funny, I’ve never heard it!” At the same time, she admits that her family roots define who she is.
She spoke to the Kyiv Post sitting in a cozy cafe in downtown Kyiv, dressed in a stylish black blouse and red blazer, wearing just a touch of makeup. Her style, somewhat minimalistic with a strict bob haircut, remains very feminine, with a slight shyness at first that then quickly opens up.
In her 29 years, she has several years of professional show-business behind her, a first prize at the New Wave contest in Latvia’s Yurmala and two albums, including one released just weeks ago. “All or Nothing”, an album of 12 songs, took Jamala over two years of work. Apart from Unutmasan, a Crimean Tatar folk song, all songs on it are written by Jamala, with lyrics coming from the singer herself, Elena Chubukliyeva from the Ukrainian girls band Sirena and popular Russian writer Viktoria Platova, who submited lyrics for three songs in Russian. “All or Nothing” is available on iTunes for $10.99.
“To me, this album is very personal and also very different from the first one,” she says. “In it, I was brave to go for diverse music styles. This album is like a man who can’t really sort himself out.”
When asked what songs from the new album she would especially recommend to hear, Jamala turns all emotional.
“No way! It’s all or nothing here too,” she says.
She strongly believes that music should be listened to in albums, not just separate tracks, to grasp the full story of each collection.
“This is important, to listen to the entire album!” she says loudly, banging her hand on the table. “I mean, now we prefer to just hear one track, to make it fast. No time. No time for reading books, for sorting out people, for listening to albums.”
Jamala presented the new album at a concert in Kyiv, broadcast online on Youtube. Extreme snowfalls jeopardized the event, making it hard to deliver equipment.
“I could expect anything but not that the concert scheduled for March 24 would be under threat of cancellation because of snow!” Jamala says, laughing. “Fortunately, it all worked out well.”
She says she’s always worried about people who can’t make it to her concert because of lack of tickets. The compassion comes from her college times, when she often couldn’t afford tickets for concerts she craved to see.
At that time, Jamala shared a dorm room with her elder sister, who planned the budget based on their parents’ money. Often it didn’t include tickets, meaning the future soul star had to use tricks to get to events. These usually involved buying the cheapest tickets and manipulating usher ladies to let her move forward.
Once, she even managed to get into Joe Zawinul’s concert in Kyiv for free. When she found out that all tickets were sold out, Jamala sat on the concert hall porch and cried. There she was seen by Zawinul’s manager, who let her in for free.
While lip-synching has spread throughout Ukrainian show business, Jamala says she has only done it once, over three years ago at a mixed concert in Palats Sportu, where she had no choice. At Kyiv Music Fest two years ago Jamala insisted on performing live, like Gloria Gaynor who was headlining the festival. Organizers were terrified by the idea, saying it was impossible technically, but eventually it worked out. Jamala says some of her fellow performers reacted negatively then, believing a live performance was showing off.
Unlike many other celebrities, Jamala keeps silent about her personal life. She says she often gets the “Why aren’t you married?” question from journalists and family members.
“My personal life is doing great,” she says, smiling. “Without it, there is no life.”
But she likes children and hopes to have some one day. She’s even planned out their musical education to include classic composers like Johannes Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frederic Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Kyivans will enjoy Jamala’s “All or Nothing” album at her solo show on April 26 in October Palace. Tickets are available for Hr 50-750.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com.
