May 31, 2016
Ukrainian’s jazz band mesmerized Middle Eastern audience
Since olden times, Ukrainians have been known for their musicality
– and not just in terms of folk music. Ukrainians don’t sit by and
ignore modern music. It isn’t only about winning European
contests; our performers are well-known even in the Middle East.
For instance, last week, the Illia Netkach Band achieved great
success in the Battle of the Bands in Bahrain. “Three weeks ago, I
received, from the organizer of the Battle of the Bands at the
Hard Rock Cafe Bahrain, an invitation to participate. I gathered
my colleagues and we formed a band. Before the semi-final, we had
less than a week to rehearse. Then we had only another week to
rehearse before the final. During the final, the judges gave us a
standing ovation. People had a very emotional response to this
very specific style of music,” said Mr. Illiaa, the band leader.
Approximately 20 bands took part in the contest and six of them
made it into the finals. “The brightest moments for us were
on-stage performances. The audience’s response was absolutely
unexpected. This was twice as valuable to us because we don’t have
our own audience in Bahrain,” – that was how the musicians
described the experience.
Mr. Illia is a jazz violinist who composes his own music, mostly
in the fusion style. He originally hailed from Kharkiv. In
Ukraine, he had his own band, which performed at Fete de la
Musique (Kharkiv). After moving to Qatar, Mr. Illia participated
in jazz jams and recorded his own music, which he posted to
iTunes. Later, Mr. Illia returned to Ukraine, where he stayed for
six months and continued his musical activities. He played two
tours as part of the Sympho Show “World Hits” and then moved to
Bahrain. Though the band was created specifically for the contest,
the musicians will continue collaborating. “We have plans for the
future. At present, I have invited a few more musicians and we are
working on a full-scale concert program. The first show is
scheduled for after Ramadan. Our band will be international. The
keyboardist (Alina Kharchenko) and I are from Ukraine, the
guitarist (Sunny Salis) is from India, the bass player is from
Pakistan and the drummer (Ryan John) is from Bahrain,” said Mr.
Illia. The band has its own creative vision. The musicians cast
away any comparisons and state that music is not sports. The main
point of any contest is to perform for the audience, not to win.
Present-day musicians often forget this. “Winning the contest was
not our main goal. Even in the finals, we did not expect anything.
I knew that we would win something only when the judging panel
gave us a standing ovation. It’s still possible to read our
communication with the organizer of the contest on the Hard Rock
Café page. There, he said, “We’re waiting for the result,” and I
responded that this was not the most important thing, that we had
achieved our outcome when the last song ended. It’s not good to
forget the real reason why music exists,” said the musician.
There are quite a lot compliments about the band’s performance
could be found online. Users emphasized the unique character of
the music and the outstanding talent of the musicians.
Translated from Ukrainian. Source –
Global Ukraine.