The 7th Alfa Jazz Fest took place in Lviv at the end of June. As usual, and because he is a big fan of jazz music, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk was invited to the shows by the organizers of this international festival...
And for those who love jazz improvisation, here is a very interesting video! Thanks to Igor Petrof for this. :) The recording took place on the 24th of June in a restaurant/brewery/«theatre» - I don't know how to call it! :)
By the way, did you know that Svyatoslav Vakarchuk moderated a discussion that took place in parallele to the Alfa Jazz Fest? The theme of this debate was "How to create trustworthy institutes?"
As a co-founder of the Centre for Economic Strategy - who organized this event -, Svyatoslav said that such discussions will be held each year. The purpose of the debate is to answer the challenges faced today by Ukraine. These dicussions should not be limited to politics and will be extended to cultural, social and economic topics.
So, if you're fluent at Ukrainian, if - like me - you're fond of that language or if you're just curious, I invite you to watch this video. :) Enjoy!
As said in a previous post, I had the opportunity to meet Svyatoslav Vakarchuk after the concert he gave in Paris on the 26th of March. There would be a lot to say about it… but in the end, I came to the conclusion that the best way to talk about it was to write him this long letter... :)
Dear Svyatoslav, Many thanks for your time and for your warm welcome when we met in Paris. To tell you the truth, I was not supposed to see you on that Sunday evening, but a few angels made this happened :) - and I want to thank them again for this.
You know, it’s always the same: most of your fans don’t understand why I never asked to meet you (because, again, I didn’t…), especially since I’m lending you a hand in your communication in French. They think I’m stupid not to take advantage of my position… :)) But the thing is that I know that you’re always very busy (I don’t want to take too much of your time) and that, unlike most people, meeting you was not (and is still not) an end in itself for me. Of course, it was an important moment for me… but I believe that this is « only » another natural/logical step in our « collaboration ». :) Things happen when they have to happen…
Photogr. Unkn.
I also have to say that I was in a strange mood that evening - not only because I was not supposed to be there, but also because I have been through so many emotions during the concert!! Especially when you sang with Mané: it moved me deeply… This mixing of Ukrainian and French languages was magical. Many thanks to both of you for this beautiful gift. I’ll never forget… But all of this moved me so that I thought that nothing could have touched me more… Well, it seems to me I was wrong. :) Life is full of surprises!
Since we met, people are always asking me the same questions and they all want to know what kind of person you are. It’s a difficult question to answer :) but cognitive science showed that it only takes a few seconds to have a good perception of personality traits. So… « Positive energy », « strength », « enthusiasm », « generous spirit », «great kindness »… These are the words that people are using when they try to describe who you are. I’m not going to disagree with that. :) But I would add « sensitivity », « fragility », « emotion »… Fans too often forget that an artist is an ordinary person like the others people - being talented and working hard doesn’t mean that you’re not feeling joy, fear, pain… on the contrary! I think that all of this feeds creativity. Now, I can also say that your music reflects your soul. :) Well, this shouldn't have been a surprise… but it was so strange to experience the same emotion as when I listened for the first time to one of your songs! Do you know that, since then, I’m listing to your music in a different way?… ;)
For a hundred reasons, I say that « Дiвчина » is my favorite song… Now, I can add one more item to that long list! :)
I didn’t ask to meet you… but I really wanted to give you these few gifts I’ve brought with me (Note to my readers: I’ll speak about this in another post!), so I’m happy that they are - finally! - in your hands. :) They are of little interest, but I wanted you to know that your music resonates with me and that I see in it new challenges to face. Sorry for treating Ukrainian language and your music so badly… :)) but your works are an important source of inspiration for me and I often need to create something new with all these ideas/feelings coming from the depths of my soul…
By the way, I must tell you that, if I decided not to speak Ukrainian, it was not only because I’m still not mastering it… No. The real reason is that I knew that there would have been many questions regarding this and we then could have talked all night long.:)) This would have been nice but, again, I didn’t want to take you more time. But I promise that, next time we will meet, I’ll say a few words in Ukrainian… I love your mother tongue so much!
When I say that we could have talked all night long, I’m not joking… Here are food for thought:
* Regarding OE communication in French, we can easily go a step further. I have a few ideas regarding this…
* French fans have also suggestions and ideas and they asked me to share them with you…
* Do you know what brings so many different people together and why, all over the world, they love you so?….
* I have 2 personal projects related to your works… We must talk about that.
* I must explain what drove me to Ukraine / to your music…
* I must tell you how learning Ukrainian language changed my soul…
* I will say why I love to wear a vyshyvanka - but I won’t tell you why some say that I wear it so well: you know much more than me about this… ;) - and will tell you that, when I was 12, I had "unusual" interests... :)
Photogr. Unkn.
* I'll have to tell you that, now, I’m sure that discovering your music and meeting you is not a chance: it’s the path I have to follow… I still don't really understand why, but time will tell! :)
Many thanks again for the trust you placed in me. Thank you so much for your invitation to come and see you in concert in Ukraine. I love this idea! This will be great ! Thanks again for this. I appreciate that gesture.
I hope to see you soon.
Take care.
God bless you!
Alexa
