The Ukrainian Institute and the oldest jazz magazine in Poland dedicated the new edition to Ukraine
In Warsaw, the largest and oldest Polish jazz magazine, Jazz Forum, has dedicated a special edition to the Ukrainian jazz scene. With the support of the Ukrainian Institute, articles about the history of jazz in Ukraine were published in a foreign language for the first time. The journal also features the state of the industry in general and the 11 albums of recent years.
On the cover of the magazine — Ukrainian musicians Anastasiia Lytvyniuk and Ihor Hnydin, who came to Warsaw on 24 February, as well as Roman Hraniuk. Magazine subscribers will receive with this edition a new CD by musicians KINVA — also available on the music platforms.
The key facts about the history of jazz in Ukraine are covered in an article by Oleksiy Kogan, a well-known jazz promoter and art director of the Leopolis Jazz Fest in Lviv. The pianist and journalist Kateryna Ziabliuk presents the article about Ukrainian women in jazz. There is also a history of one of the key jazz educational institutions in Ukraine, the R. Glier Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music. The Ukrainian jazz scene during the war is explained by Mariana Bondarenko, Music Programme Manager at the Ukrainian Institute. The publication features the materials of the exhibition Ukrainian Jazzmen at War, where you can read the stories of the musicians and listen to their music with QR codes. The magazine also presents a visual mosaic of jazz in Kyiv and Lviv captured by photographer Arkady Mitnik.
“Finally, a historical event has happened — for the first time, there is a special publication about the Ukrainian jazz scene released abroad. Thanks to the initiative of our friends from Jazz Forum, we were inspired to dive deeper into the processes of the Ukrainian jazz environment from the 1920s to the present day through the lenses of history, gender, and education. This is a great example of the subjectivity of the unique and diverse Ukrainian jazz scene. I am especially thrilled with the new opportunities for musicians who have received album reviews from Polish music critics,” says Mariana Bondarenko, Music Programme Manager at the Ukrainian Institute.
A special place is given to the 11 Ukrainian albums released over the past 3 years. The reviews were written by well-known Polish experts: Aleksandra Andrearczyk, Marek Romański, Ula Nowak, Piotr Wojdat, Robert Ratajczak, Barnaba Siegel, Rafał Zbrzeski, Cezary Gumiński, Tomasz Gregorczyk and Przemek Psikuta.
The Ukrainian Institute has been working with Jazz Forum since 2021. The editors have supported Ukrainian musicians since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in solidarity with Ukrainian musicians, they had planned to publish an exclusive edition of the magazine dedicated to Ukrainian jazz music and its history from USSR times to the present.
“Ukraine is very close to my heart, and you can find a big part of it in the Jazz Forum 1-2/2023 edition. Many musicians left their country to flee war. Many lived abroad even before it hit. Many decided to stay and defend the country. We wanted to bring the story of all of them together. We dedicate this edition with a sense of gratitude, admiration, and respect for our Ukrainian Friends”, — Asia Pieczykolan, Managing Editor of Jazz Forum.
Order the special edition on the Jazz Forum website.
