Editorial: Citizen Jazz invite Meloport "We insist"
Meloport
Meloport: Kateryna Ziabliuk and Oleksii Karpovych
Citizen Jazz - ukrainian and french version
Meloport is a Ukrainian platform about improvisational music that was founded in 2018.
It all started a year before with our meeting - pianist Kateryna Ziabliuk and photographer Oleksii Karpovych - in the midst of the Kyiv jazz world, in which we were actively involved, each in our own «echelon». Both of us were following all the new happenings in improvised music, so we came up with the idea to start blogs, share music and conversations with musicians. Articles, descriptions, questions, analytics - it was an uncharted space at the time, and the ideas that emerged did not have many analogues in the Ukrainian media space. We had to start from scratch.
We planned our first trip in autumn 2017, to the Jesień Jazzowa festival (after the death of trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, the festival was named after him). It was like driving onto a multi-lane highway right after a driving test - we recorded our first interviews with that year’s headliners. Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, David Virelles, Ambrose Akinmusire - conversations with them later ended up on our social media and website, which we developed in 2018.
Our title’s name combines special attention to melody, something that runs parallel to life and over which we often have no control («melo»), and a place where roads lead from all over the world, where a dynamic whirlpool of cultures and mentalities reigns («port»). However, we have established clear rules - it must be a place that forms a tradition, especially in writing, listening and healthy communication between musicians and listeners. From the very beginning, we have been focused on the development of the Ukrainian environment and the promotion of Ukrainian musicians. Through this dialogue, we create an audience interested in music that is based on mutual support. And most importantly, the main advantage should always be quality, not quantity.
After a series of exciting events - festivals in Poland, Ukraine, and Denmark - a series of Meloport Loft improvisational sets in unpredictable Kyiv venues - which were mostly organised by us, the co-founders, a period of forced silence has come. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we have been trying to adjust our desire to share music to the realities of the time on our own. It was no longer possible to travel abroad for festivals and conferences, so we focused on creating playlists, informative articles, and remote interviews.
When we felt that we could resume active work, Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine broke out.
There was a clear realisation that everything had changed forever. It seemed that all our plans for development and the future had been destroyed. We were in different countries and, accordingly, our states were polarised ; on the one hand, music saved us with its presence, gave meaning to what we were doing, and on the other hand, there was a complete inability to perceive it. It was a state of two extremes - silence and numbness, cries of despair and anger - as if a single body was torn into two parts that you cannot put back together, but you have to mobilise for simple actions - safety, help and opposition.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, our friends and acquaintances have been killed, the places where we used to gather have been destroyed or abandoned. People were scattered to different cities and countries, and for a long time, everything seemed to stand still.
From the very first days, we felt support and solidarity from the European music community, festival organisers, musicians, and journalists. Citizen Jazz was among them. We were mentioned more and more often abroad - for example, as part of our cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute, we had the opportunity to represent the platform at the Jazzahead! showcase, review events and establish new contacts.
The idea of a special issue of Meloport in the French edition of Citizen Jazz was discussed during this year’s showcase. The work has been going on since the end of spring. This collaboration encourages us to hope that we are finally recovering and will soon be able to tell more about the improvisational scene during the war, both in Ukraine and abroad.
We can say that we are there, we are from Ukraine, and we have something to offer the world - our culture, music, resistance, strength and spirits.
Citizen Jazz
Citizen Jazz, a magazine established in 2001, has consistently promoted open borders and the circulation of music and artists, and has long worked to promote the European rather than the national scene.
As a longstanding member of the group that unites European jazz publications, it has fostered exchanges and collaborations on a supra-national level. We were introduced to Meloport, its Ukrainian counterpart, through this organisation. We are saddened and concerned to see the magazine’s publication grinding to a halt because of the Russian bombings.
We recall with admiration the editorial team of Libération newspaper who, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack, opened their doors to the Charlie Hebdo team to enable them to publish an issue in the midst of difficulty.
The issue conveyed a resounding message : you cannot silence us. In the true spirit of defiance, we suggested to the Meloport team that they create a unique edition to replace the usual Citizen Jazz, to be published during the current conflict. This gesture would emphasize that even the slightest whisper of jazz would not be silenced by the oppressive might of russian power, and the two teams worked together remotely and sought out like-minded partners who shared their passion for the cause.
The drawings for the cover and the special evening’s poster are from Anna Sarvira.
Anna Sarvira - Illustrator, Curator, and Art Director from Kyiv born in 1986 in Ukraine.
Graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.
Anna Sariva was twice included in the list of 75 best illustrators of the world at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (2017, 2019), shortlisted for Nami Concourse Exhibition, South Korea in 2018, and Resident at Prague Civil Society Center in Chisinau and Prague in 2018, Internationales Blderbuchfestival (Germany) in 2017, Gaude Polonia in 2013.
Worked with UNICEF, Museum of Modern Art New York, Goethe Institute, British Council, UN Women, Coca-Cola, Penguin Books, Blue Rabbit Publishing, Benchmark Education, Glowberry Books, Lyuta Sprava, Republik, Hohe Luft, European Commission, the Economist, Datum magazine. Anna’s works are actively exhibited in Ukraine, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Spain, France, Sweden, Finland, South Korea, Canada, and the USA.
Partners
The Ukrainian Institute of Kyiv and its delegate Mariana Bondarenko played a key role in this ambitious project.
AJC and Europe Jazz Network were immediately involved as partners.
The Polish jazz magazine Donos Kulturalny collaborated with Meloport and Citizen Jazz on this edition.
The Ukrainian Institute in France ensured the translation of the texts from Ukrainian to French.
The Ukrainian Institute in France initiated and provided partial financial support for the organization of the special Meloport issue launch event and a jazz concert (December 15th) along a strong partnership with the Centre Tchèque de Paris, FICEP and its wonderful Jazzycolors festival.
Without the generous and sustained commitment of these partners, the We Insist ! edition would surely never have seen the light of day.
The Ukrainian Institute supported the Meloport special issue project on the Citizen Jazz magazine platform right from the start. It was clear to us that the voices of the Ukrainian musicians had to be heard, that they could not be silenced by the war.
As we worked on this project, we realised that the written word had to be complemented by sounds and rhythms, and had to be heard in a physical space. That is why we proposed the organisation of a concert of jazz and solidarity, which was supported by the two magazines as well as our wonderful partners, notably the Centre tchèque de Paris and Ficep, which made the «WE INSIST!» concert the highlight of its Jazzycolors festival.
For the past 30 years, AJC has been working to promote jazz in Europe and to establish strong, long-term professional relationships between France and many European countries. Supporting this publication and this cultural bridge between France and Ukraine is now more than essential in our eyes.
As EJN, the network of almost 200 festivals, venues and support organisations of creative music in Europe and beyond, we are very happy to support this important initiative by Meloport and Citizen Jazz. Over the last few years we have established many fruitful collaborations with our Ukrainian colleagues, especially with the Ukrainian Institute. This included a list of Ukrainian artists who can perform at solidarity events, published immediately after the war broke out, and the Ukrainian section of our Jazz Panorama resource available on our website. Lately, we have been very happy to support the organisation of the first EJN Green Pilot Tour around venues in Ukraine, which will take place in April 2024. We congratulate all the partners for this joint edition of the magazine, a great example of collaboration across borders for peace and a concrete way to support artists and music professionals in Ukraine at a time when this is greatly needed.
Poland and Ukraine have a lot in common. Beginning with their shared - not always easy - history. Recent times have allowed us to deepen our mutual fascination and friendship, to cooperate, help and support each other. The latter are particularly important in the face of the Russian invasion and the continuing war. So we try to help in many ways - sometimes small, like these texts. They are our voice for Ukraine but also for interesting, worthwhile music.
FICEP is proud to be associated with this cultural event that gives a voice to Ukrainian musicians and journalists - and to help in any way possible.
Jazzycolors, the FICEP festival, already welcomed talented Ukrainian musicians last year, and thanks to Citizen Jazz (a longtime media partner of Jazzycolors) and Meloport, we’ll be able to present some of them again, at the end of our international program. There will always be a place in Jazzycolors for the culture of Ukraine, which has been a member of FICEP for many years.
We really liked this idea of solidarity - a great way to end the year and our festival.