ManSound: national hymn in the spirit of gospel
Kyiv Weekly Wed Sep 6, 2006. By Vladyslav Zhurba.
The organizers of the grand events in Kyiv on Maidan Nezalezhnosti entrusted the famous jazz sextet ManSound, which performs all compositions a capella, on the 15th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.
The musicians surprised listeners with their unusual and at the same time brilliant cover of Ukraine’s national anthem performed in an Afro-American gospel style. All those who heard the performance are not likely to treat the national anthem of Ukraine as merely an obligatory display of state officiousness. ManSound added to the music and lyrics familiar to all Ukrainians such a powerful and, at the same time, understandable and close energy, depth and vitality that now the anthem can (and should be!) sung everywhere – either under the yellow-blue flag or in one’s bathroom. The band members really wanted for the anthem to represent a new outlook of the new Ukraine, and they definitely succeeded in doing so. And indeed our anthem “Shche ne vmerla…. in such a performance is perceived as an ode to a great nation that has a prominent spiritual and intellectual history and potential. Those that did not have a chance to hear this masterpiece should pick up the single by ManSound with the recording of the cover version of Ukraine’s national anthem in local music stores. Since ancient times, Ukrainians have always been hailed for their musical talent and strong singing skills. It was not in vain that the court choirs of Russian emperors consisted exclusively of our fellow countrymen. And, unfortunately, Ukrainians have another national attribute – namely, non-recognition of the talent of their own people. Indeed, there have been so many outstanding Ukrainian artists who over the years became famous abroad and only later were noticed and appreciated in their native country! In this light, the sextet ManSound can to a certain degree be considered a personification of the abovementioned features of the Ukrainian mentality. The mastery of performance, unconventional arrangements, a wonderful palette of sound timbres and brilliant artistry long ago gave this band worldwide fame as one of the best vocal bands in the world. The sextet was applauded by concert goers in European countries and in America, the home of jazz. Furthermore, Ward Swingle, a true leader of vocal jazz and the founder of the legendary The Swingle’s Singers band, confessed after the concert of our fellow countrymen that he praised ManSound higher than the famous Take 6. The band has performed in many jazz and vocal music festivals on the same stage with such live jazz classics as Lionel Hampton, bass player Marcus Miller, Russian saxophone player Aleksei Kozlov and many others. The band earned a number of prizes at different prestigious contests: the Grand Prix at the International Contest of the A Capella Bands of Vokal.Total. in Graz, Austria, an award for Best Vocal Band within the framework of the All American Entertainment Award in the U.S. city of Branson and prizes at festivals in Munich and Vienna. In 2004 the World A Capella Association (CASA) acknowledged the jazz standard Nature Boy performed by Ukraine’s band for the arrangement of then leader of the sextet Volodymyr Mykhnovetskiy as the best vocal performance in jazz style. Despite all those achievements, ManSound were little known in Ukraine. Although the band gathered full houses of sophisticated connoisseurs of music, it was not known to ordinary Ukrainians and it finally managed to gain official acknowledgement in its native country. The fact that organizers of the holiday on Maidan Nezalezhnosti hired ManSound to perform in the opening and closing events is a testimony to this. After this we can probably expect that ManSound will earn its well-deserved popularity and fame in Ukraine. Although the sextet is 12 years old, many people only learned of its existence recently. ManSound was founded in 1994 in Kyiv. The founder and leader of the band is the fantastic vocalist, composer and arranger Volodymyr Mykhnovetskiy. It was he who earlier founded the famous band Jazz-Expromt, still performing today. Although during the years of its existence the band changed members several times, this did not influence the high quality of the music it created. The sextet cannot be called a purely jazz band, as its repertoire consists of various compositions. Anyone who ever heard ManSound will agree that these guys can do anything – jazz standards, Afro-American soul music (gospel and spiritual), soul music from the repertoire of George Benson and Stevie Wonder, immortal masterpieces of the Beatles, famous hits of Adriano Celentano, songs from American musicals, Ukrainian, Russian and Estonian folklore. Ukrainian folk music always had a special and very important place in the works of the band – it was always a part of a certain program during solo performances of the band or during performances at jazz festivals at home and abroad. And thus ManSound managed to introduce to thousands of Europeans and Americans folklore of Ukraine through their brilliant performances. In October 2004 the band was shocked with the sudden death of its founder and soul Mykhonevtskiy. For some time, the band consisted of five members and they performed in this composite in front of millions of people during the Orange Revolution in December 2004. Later, the sixth permanent member Serhiy Kharchenko joined the band. Today, ManSound is Ruben Tolmachov, bass, Volodymyr Trach, tenor, Volodymyr Sukhin, tenor, Yuriy Romenskiy, tenor, Serhiy Kharchenko, tenor, and Vyacheslav Rubel, baritone. The band is currently going through a renaissance despite the death of Mykhnovetskiy. Each of the members keeps in his heart the live memory of their outstanding leader, which inspires it to work even more persistently. Just recently, ManSound signed a contract with the recording company Comp Music, which represents the EMI in Ukraine. So, music lovers can be confident that ManSound will continue to offer them more top-notch music. As for ordinary Ukrainians, they have one more reason to be proud of their country. By Vladyslav Zhurba http://www.kyivweekly.com/?art=1157490666
A Cappella Magic
Airport – the official magazine of the International Airport Borispol (Kiev, Ukraine). #3/2005
Jazz Review of The 3rd Yednist (Unity) International Jazz Festival
¹12 March 30 2004 «The Day»
Read more articles in Russian
http://www.mansound.com.ua/ru/press
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