For the seventh year in a row, the Alfa Jazz Fest is in full swing in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, some 545 kilometers west of Kyiv.
World-renowned stars of the jazz scene, including Buika and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, took to the stage on June 23, the first day of a festival, which has been rated by Britain’s Guardian newspaper as among the best in Europe.
This year Alfa Jazz Fest will last for five days. An international lineup of bands, including from the U.S., Poland, Germany and Spain, are performing on three stages spread across Lviv.
Ukrainian a capella band Mansound opened the festival on the first day. The group, consisting of six men in white costumes, initially provoked excited shouts of approval from the crowd but torrential rain, common to the city at this time of year, forced spectators to disperse in search of shelter.
Polish band Kinga Glyk Trio performed next.
The group takes its name from its frontwoman Kinga Glyk who, though only 20 years old, is already known as one of the best bass guitar players Poland has to offer.
Meanwhile on the stage dedicated to the late Eddie Rosner – a renowned Polish Jazz musician and Soviet prison camp survivor – Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band of 18 players were first to perform. The Grammy award-winning outfit’s two-hour set was a huge hit with the audience.
Buika’s performance came straight after. A 2014 Grammy award nominee from Spain, she didn’t speak much before the show so as to keep her voice in top form.
“Real artists keep the best of themselves for their fans,” noted Buika.
Two-time Grammy award winners Yellowjackets, often dubbed “the kings of the jazz world,” will perform on June 24. According to saxophonist Bob Mintzer, when the band was formed in 1977 they chose the name without having any idea they would successfully play together for so many years.
“We didn’t put any thought into creating the name. Now I’m older and when people ask me what I do, I have to respond: I play in a band called Yellowjackets” Mintzer says.
Tamara Lukasheva Quartet will also perform on June 24. Frontwoman Tamara Lukasheva, who traces her roots back to Ukraine, is considered to be among the best jazz singer now working in Germany.
Creative curator and a jazz expert Oleksiy Kogan says Alfa Fest has been scheduled in such a way as to make sure that every guest will be able to visit every performance.
“If you think you are not going to make it for the concert – just make it!” he says.
To see the full schedule of the forthcoming concerts, go to www.alfajazzfest.com/en
