REVIEW: Alexis Kochan's Paris to Kyiv "Variances" (11/02/97)

REVIEW: Alexis Kochan's Paris to Kyiv "Variances"

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

Alexis Kochan's timing is either shrewd, fortuitous or effortlessly natural, or all of the above. Since her first album "Czarivna" (1994) and the first eponymously titled "Paris to Kiev" album (also 1994) put out by the ensemble she leads, she has benefitted from growing interest in what the label-mad recording industry considers "diasporic music." This is a category that has allowed New Agers seeking relaxation and/or enlightenment to listen to music formerly shelved in the "ethnic" section.

Less cynically, it has also allowed music to continue performing the holy task of resolving humanity's Babel of language and culture into a sound that everyone harkens to. This is a project the Winnipeg-born Ms. Kochan and third-generation bandurist Julian Kytasty furthered admirably last year in an afternoon concert during Toronto's Ashkenaz festival of Yiddish music.

The ensemble updated the spelling of its name (Kiev to Kyiv) for its latest release, "Variances." It starts off with Ms. Kochan's warm bluegrass-like rendition of "Snizhok Ide," (Snow is Falling, titled on this album as "Wedding Song") accompanied by Martin Colledge's cittern and Mr. Kytasty's bandura sounding virtually indistinguishable from an acoustic guitar - it's not a novelty, it's further testament to Mr. Kytasty's considerable talent and musical ear.

The second track showcases the ensemble's genius for blending the ancient musical traditions of various cultures to produce a sound that is both ear-catching and imbued with sacred spirit. "Matins Fragments" is a liturgical chant accompanied by flute, viola and what the liner notes say are "Northumbrian pipes" played by Mr. Colledge.

The third, the instrumental "Dance Three," blends kolomeyka patterns on bandura and Asian-African rhythms on congas, udu and other drums (played by percussionists Henry Zacharias and Evans Coffie) in an irresistible lilting composition.

On the fourth, "Cross. Cradle. Tree," Mr. Kytasty sings a straight lyrical version of "Velychai Dushe Moia," then is joined by Ms. Kochan singing a Ukrainian lullabye to form a haunting overlaid duet, and then Richard Moody, who has the Hutsul sound down to perfection, ties the triptych up tastefully on viola.

It's not all high seriousness. "Katherine's Kolomeyka" is a good-humored Ukrainian mountain stomp.

There are eight more, and to go through them all here would be a pleasure, but it would tax the vocabulary and keep readers too long from being the excellent album's listeners.

In a recent interview with the daily Winnipeg Free Press, Ms. Kochan revealed that she was raised in a musical family, and that her teenage rebellion against her Ukrainian roots was dispelled by a trip to Ukraine while working on her Ph.D. in childhood language development from the University of Manitoba. "I connected very strongly to what I saw there," Ms. Kochan said, "I was hearing music I had never heard before."

Revealing the source of her ensemble's name, she added: "I was very sad to realize that [Kyiv] could have been the Paris of Eastern Europe. And I realized how powerless we have been for centuries. I like to think I'm helping people to come alive again."

In the same Free Press item, the album's co-producer, Danny Schur of Boomtalk Productions, was quoted as saying, "[Ms. Kochan is] one of those people to whom art is not just entertainment but a passion."

Paris to Kyiv's "Variances" is a compact disc release on the Olesia label, AKBCD 03, and is available at all Ukrainian and most mainstream music stores. It can be ordered direct by writing to: Olesia Productions, P.O. Box 2877, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 4B4.

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