Jazz in Koktebel to be international breakthrough for Crimea

The next International Jazz Festival ‘Koktebel Jazz Party’ under the slogan "Jazz of five continents" will be held in Koktebel from August 28 to 30. Jazz performers and bands from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America, including Enver Izmailov (Republic of Crimea), Vladimir Nesterenko, Irina Rodiles (Russia), Will Johns (UK), Yakov Okun’s International Jazz Quintet, Afromania (Ivory Coast, Benin), Igor Zolotukhin (Russia), Vagif Sadikhov’s Quintet (Azerbaijan), Mariam Merabova (Armenia), Andrew Davidian (Russia), George Yufa (Russia), Arturo Sandoval (Cuba), Four Tenor Sax (Russia), Red Square Band (Armenia, Georgia, Russia), Eugene Ryaboi (Russia), Greg Tardy (USA), Ada Dyer (US), De Phazz (Germany), the Big Band of Igor Butman, Dmitry Mospan and Larisa Dolina (Russia) will perform for audiences.

The Art Director of the International Festival ‘Koktebel Jazz Party’, Mikhail Ikonnikov, in an interview to Vestnik Kavkaza spoke about the participants of the festival: "There will be jazz musicians from the Caucasus, in particular we have quite a remarkable pianist, Vagif Sadikhov, representing Azerbaijan, as he grew up, was born and began his professional career there. The completely ingenious musician can play any music. And as far as I know, he is preparing a program just with national elements. It will be ethno-jazz, which is very interesting. One of the art directors, Sergey Golovnya will also, I hope, participate in the preparation of this program, and will take the stage together with Vagif Sadhov. Armenia will be represented by Mariam Merabova, who is well known for the show Voice. It will be a program together with Andrei Davidian, the well-known representative of Armenia living for a long time in Russia. They will play a little jazz program in the Ray Charles style. Of course, I am not checking out the passport of musicians who will be part of different bands. Therefore, I cannot list all the representatives of the Caucasus, but I think there will be many more of them than I have named."

- Is anyone going to represent Georgia? 

- Not this year. We are planning for next year. It is difficult to cover everything just in three days. We are not looking for the musicians of this or that country. For example, I do not see anything wrong with that, to make the festival exclusively for Russian participants and some of the members of the CIS countries. Also, do not worry. The quality will be very good. I listen to a musician, and I do not wonder where he is from. He either plays and sings well or badly.

- Azerbaijani jazz is very popular. How would you describe those musicians?

- Yes, jazz is popular in Azerbaijan. Vagif is proof of this. Musicians want to be like Vagif Sadikhov, because his example shows that you can achieve anything with some talent and diligence. This is one of our best pianists in general. In Georgia, blues is more than popular, there I have a lot of blues friends, they now continue to play.

The virtuoso improviser and trumpeter Victor Arzu Huseynov agrees with Ikonnikov. "Baku’s passion for jazz was third after Moscow and Leningrad in Soviet times. There has been a good tradition of jazz. Now there is more a bias to merge jazz with mugham. This effect is prominent for the Azerbaijani jazzman Vagif Mustafa, whom I was lucky enough to play with in 1960-1970. Then our paths just separated, he stayed in Baku, and I went to Moscow. Now there are a lot of pianists, but unfortunately not too many horn players, saxophonists, trumpeters or trombonists," Huseynov told Vestnik Kavkaza.

The chairman of the organizing committee of the Koktebel Jazz Party, Dmitry Kiselyov, does not hide the political subtext of the festival: "What happened to Crimea, Ukraine, no one could have expected, and, of course, that the Crimean question would arise:" What, when the festival was in Ukraine, and now it will be held in Russia?"... Crimeans and tourists from all over Russia, from around the world, are waiting for this big event. It is a supportive, cultural event for them, an international breakthrough for  Crimea. No musician has refused yet, even though we know that they may be under pressure at the last moment, but nevertheless they are going to come to our festival. And after the French MPs, I think this is a great international event not only for Crimea, but also for the world."