The sea, stars, and jazz

The forum’s venue was Blue Bay holiday hotel, and its organizers managed to attract world jazz stars and create a warm festive atmosphere for both the guests and the participants. The concerts were held at two sites, on a big and a small stage. Meanwhile, musicians and singers were giving master classes at the Bohema Jazz Club. The jazz gurus shared their secrets with young performers. There was an exhibit of musical instruments, and other events.

Every day, the audience could enjoy a constellation of stars. Both festival veterans and novices participated in the concerts. Live in Blue Bay is a non-commercial event, which is why the entrance was free (the total attendance amounted to 15,000).

Kostiantyn Zelinsky, director of the organizing committee, emphasized that the fest had been a success due to “the powerful aura of Koktebel — a place inhabited by writers, artists, poets, and now also musicians. And jazz musicians, at that.”

“The more festivals there are, the better,” underlined Arkadii Ovrutsky, organizating committee member. “We keep in touch with the organizers of Jazz-Koktebel, we are on good terms with them, there is no competition or rivalry.”

The opening of Live in Blue Bay 2010 was a bright and unforgettable event. The audience roared with delight when the world-famous guitarist Enver Izmailov came on stage to demonstrate his famous tapping technique. He performed with the band Karadag. Next to the virtuoso, other musicians also dazzled: the percussionist Rustem Bari, the violinist and pianist Ruslan Bolatov, the drummer Aider Ashyrov, and Enver’s daughter Leniie (vocals).

Sergei Manukyan, probably the most famous Russian vocalist and pianist, was the hero of the next day. His jazz jam style concert, together with the guitarist Pavel Chekmakovsky, turned out to be a witty, sensual, and very emotional performance.

The baton was then passed on to Oleksii Kozlov, a jazz classic and legendary saxophonist, (who will be celebrating his 75th birthday this October), with the band New Arsenal. Kozlov only performed his newest songs: “Lucky Lazy,” “Insomnia,” “Jester,” “Ignoramus”...

The third day was memorable due to the performance of the virtuoso pianist Volodymyr Solianyk. This time the famous Kyivite was accompanied by Andrii Markov (the drums), Oleksii Arnautov (the bass), and Bohdan Humeniuk (the saxophone).

Live in Blue Bay 2010 was concluded by the Latvian band Radio’s Musical Experiments and an extravaganza of rhythms and melodies by Brasil Bossanova.

Postscriptum from Kyiv

September 15, the Center of Culture and Education “Master Class” will host the Jazz Koktebel Festival Postscript Concert, as part of Oleksii Kohan’s authoral project “Theme and Variations.” The legendary jazz drummer Al Foster’s Quartet will be performing.

Aloysius Foster was born on January 18, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia, but grew up in New York City, not far from West Harlem. He began to learn music professionally at the age of nine. That is when his parents first saw the future musician in their kid, who enjoyed banging on pots and pans, and gave him his first percussion stand as a Christmas present.

It will take just one phrase to explain the dimensions of his figure to anyone who is not acquainted with Al Foster’s work: “He performed with Miles Davies.” One should also mention that Foster spent more than 17 years playing with the legendary trumpeter, after replacing Jack DeJohnette in Davies’ band in the early 1970s. In his autobiography, Davies wrote this about Foster and his multi-purpose talents: “I was stunned by Al Foster — he had a great groove, and he applied it appropriately. He could keep it indefinitely.

“Al Foster was the person closest to me in my band, and he was the first to join. A really inspired kid, it felt good together with him. It was Al who kept me informed about music life in the years when I didn’t play. I would speak with him nearly every day then. And I trusted him fully.”

One can also hear Al Foster’s drums in records made by Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Cannonball Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and many other jazz stars.