Probably, the best Ukrainian Jazz Festival took place in Lviv from 4th to 13th December, 2009.

Probably, the best Ukrainian Jazz Festival took place in Lviv from 4th to 13th December, 2009. It’s a well-known fact that jazz is not easy music to listen to or understand. Jazz is difficult to interpret, difficult to perform, difficult to create, and difficult to feel. Therefore, you can well imagine how difficult it is to organize jazz sessions…

“Yes, it’s difficult to organize Jazz Bez every year, but it’s also very satisfying. And, that’s the most important aspect of our work”, – says Yuliya Khomchyn, publicity manager of the “Dzyga” Art Association, the main organizer of the festival. It was interesting to note that this year the festival worked with its traditional partners, but managed to get only one sponsor. But, “Dzyga” and their friends did an incredible job. We can only wonder why there is so little interest in such a great international festival on the part of private companies and corporations.

In spite of everything, “the scent of jazz” has been permeating the streets of Lviv in autumn for nine years now; however, this year it took place in December. “Jazz Bez – 2009” allowed fans to appreciate different styles of jazz, starting from our own native Mariana Sadovska to jazzmen from Japan and Egypt, most of whom are virtually unknown in Ukraine. Here, we ran into another difficulty; it was just too difficult to make a definite choice.

It was also difficult for visitors to say good-bye to the festival. After all, we tend get used to good things very quickly, don’t we? So, attending concerts or jam sessions every evening or every second evening brought us great satisfaction and enjoyment. However, we won’t be too gloomy, as next year Jazz Bez will be celebrating its tenth anniversary, so “Dzyga” has to come up with something fabulous.

text: Yarema Dukh
photo: Yuriy Dyachyshyn