Haydamaky

On December 5, HAYDAMAKY performed at Palats Sportu, Ukraine’s largest concert hall, as part of the BALKANFEST festival program. The powerful “kozak-rock” show, embellished by lighting technician Grzegorz Polak and VJ-ing alongside noted Serbian masters, met with several thousand Ukrainians and fans of Balkan music from around the world. The large-scale, two-day festival was concluded with a performance by Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra – their best known song “Bubamara”, sung with the HAYDAMAKY and Gogol Bordello’s leader Eugene Hutz, created a huge dance scene with members of the audience up on stage with the musicians – it was as amazing!



The friendship between HAYDAMAKY and TNSO has been growing for several years now, since the first time that the famous Serbs performed in Ukraine. According to Nele Karajilic, leader of The No Smoking Orchestra, HAYDAMAKY are the best thing that he’s heard over these last ten years. He listens to the HAYDAMAKY every day, and having completely worn out the band’s first two discs he enthusiastically cites songs from these albums in their original language. Last winter, at the behest of Nele and Emir Kusturica, the HAYDAMAKY participated in the Kustendorf Film & Music Festival – an annual event, which takes place in the Serbian mountains, in the village of Kustendorf, built by Emir. Meeting up at BALKANFEST, which took place with the help of the HAYDAMAKY, drew the two bands even closer together.



A concert at the first festival of Balkan music, which astonished Kyiv, meeting up and performing with their Serbian friends, networking with other festival participants with similar and interesting music, is how the HAYDAMAKY culminated their busy and eventful year. The capital awaits the next great project in the new-year – a large-scale joint concert in one of Kyiv’s concert halls with HAYDAMAKY and the grandees of Polish intellectual music, Voo Voo. - www.haydamaky.com

HAYDAMAKY have returned from the outstanding tour with four concerts in Canada’s largest cities – Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Toronto. The two week trip across the ocean had a real impact on the musicians – they were both impressed and shocked. HAYDAMAKY found North America to be: enormous, moderate, cultured, less romantic than Europe, but still beautiful in its own ways, and a continent with fans that know HAYDAMAKY lyrics by heart. The band was the headliner for the biggest Ukrainian festival in North America, the Toronto Ukrainian Festival, and like Europe’s Sziget with HAYDAMAKY on the Main Stage, the festival attracted close to 400 000 people.



Canadians had been looking for an opportunity to bring HAYDAMAKY to North America over the last three years, and this anticipation and desire was felt from the very first to the last day of the group’s stay. The musicians were hospitably greeted, presented to dignitaries, and asked for autographs. People on the streets chanted “HAYDAMAKY!”, and the group was met with smiles and waves while riding in an open Hummer during the festival parade – and this was all before their concerts. In the evening, when the band struck its first chords on stage the crowd went crazy - erupting into a flurry of applause when the group played its last song. The sensation is difficult to describe in words – the band simply did not expect it.



Finally, after old-world Europe, HAYDAMAKY saw something new. Canada manifested itself like another planet – from its landscape to the public’s mentality – very different from Ukraine and Europe. Huge highways, mesmerizing scenery, and properties built on large plots of land – Canada’s territory is the second largest in the world with a total population of 30 million people. These expanses are reflective of Canadians’ opinions – their mentality is contained and analytical. Communicating with these individuals presented many subjects for contemplation. - www.haydamaky.com

28.01.2008
Montag
20 - 22 Uhr
UNZA UNZA TIME!
HAYDAMAKY-Spezial : Interview mit Sänger Oleksandr Yarmola & Vorstellung der neuen CD ´´Kobzar´´ + Konzertvorschau Patti Smith & Neil Young

Der Osten kommt - mit der ersten ukrainischen Band, die auf internationalem Label veröffentlicht
hat. Die explosive Crew aus der Hauptstadt Kiew lässt die 2004er-Eurovisions-Sängerin Ruslana ganz schnell vergessen. Ihr authentischer Sound hat seine Wurzeln im Ukrainian Folk, mit
Anleihen bei den irischen Pogues oder Burnig Spear aus Jamaika. Mit ihren Songs standen sie im Rampenlicht der orangenen Revolution, was ihrem Namen alle Ehre macht. Haidamaken
nannten sich die Bauern und Kosaken im Aufstand gegen die Feudalherrschaft.
www.haydamaky.com UNZA UNZA TIME! ist eine musikalische Entdeckungsreise in das Reich
bislang un-erhörter Töne und Klänge aus dm fernen, nahen und mittleren Osten Europas und der
Welt. Von A wie Ando Drom aus Ungarn über Krambambulya aus dem weißen Rußland hin zu
den amerikanischen Zydepunks. Für Geographie-Leistungskursler sei hinzugefügt, dass - von
Wladiwostok aus gesehen - auch New Orleans im Osten liegt... Zwei Stunden lang
hochenergetische Grooves 'n' Roots auf und in die Ohren!
rockradio.de
- www.rockradio.de

von Antje Rößler

Als Anfang der neunziger Jahre die Splitterstaaten der Sowjetunion in die Unabhängigkeit stolperten,
drang aus Garagen und Kellern eine Flut innovativer Rock-Klänge. An der Kiewer Universität vereinigten
sich damals ein paar Erstsemester zu einer Band namens Haydamaky. Namenspatrone waren die
Haidamaken, die ukrainischen Bauern und Kosaken, welche im 18. Jahrhundert gegen die
Feudalherrschaft kämpften. Heute gehört die siebenköpfige Gruppe zu den beliebtesten Bands der
Ukraine.
Auch in Westeuropa sind Haydamaky inzwischen bekannt. Vor allem durch das Album »Ukraine
Calling«, das vor zwei Jahren wochenlang in den europäischen World Music Charts präsent war. Die neue
Platte »Kobzar« erinnert an die Kobzare, die Wandersänger der Ukraine, die im Mittelalter Balladen
sangen und Bandura, die ukrainische Zither, spielten.
Nostalgie ist auf »Kobzar« jedoch nicht angesagt. Schließlich haben die Musiker mit ihrem Karpaten-Ska
zu einem ganz eigenen Stil gefunden. Sie schreiben alle Songs selbst. Ukrainische Folklore bildet die
Basis. In den kräftigen Folk-Sound fließen neben der Bandura auch Mandoline, Trompete, Flöte und
Akkordeon ein. Doch Haydamaky – das sind auch westliche Klänge. Schlagzeug, Gitarre und Bass
errichten die Rockwand, auf die die ukrainischen Ornamente projiziert werden. Punk-Elemente quirlt die
Band ebenso in ihren Klang-Cocktail wie Dub, Ska und Rap. Gleichzeitig glänzen die Musiker durch
melodischen Erfindungsreichtum, der so manchem Song Ohrwurm-Qualität verleiht.
Für die meisten Hörer hierzulande dürften die hintersinnigen ukrainischen Texte vor allem eine exotische
Klangfarbe darstellen. Nicht so für die Musiker, in deren Heimat Sprache nach wie vor ein Politikum
darstellt. Schließlich war Ukrainisch im russischen Zarenreich verboten. Auch noch zu Sowjet-Zeiten galt
es als »Bauernrussisch«. Das Russische dominierte damals als Verkehrssprache und beeinflusst die
ukrainische Umgangssprache bis heute.
Haydamaky bietet also seinen ukrainischen Fans nicht nur Musik zum Tanzen, sondern festigt auch deren
kulturelle Identität. Und so stehen die Musiker wirklich in der Tradition der Kobzaren: Wie diese sind sie
Dichter und Sänger ihres Volkes. Nur eben mit zeitgemäßen, geräuschvolleren Mitteln.
Haydamaky: Kobzar (Eastblock/ Indigo)
- Neues Deutschland 13. Februar 2008

There seems to be so much happening in Berlin these days. And it is Berlin-based label Eastblok we have to thank for this first international release of the excellent Ukrainian/Carpathian ska-punk rockers Haydamaky. Although they started out over ten years ago, it was a Berlin compilation, Russendisco Hits 2, that first brought them wider European attention in 2004 with „Za Nashov Stodolov“, and it is this fabulous trombone-led ska workout that brings this album to ist close.

At the heart of the band’s sound is a love of punk and reggae, developed in their early days in communes in Germany and Poland. They were instrumental supporters of the Ukrainian Orange Revolutionin late 2004: several tracks here, like the furious horn-based driving funk-punk workout,“Sing Even if You Got No Bread“, show the strong social aspect of their music. Their trumpet player, Evgeniy Didyk, used to play with Moldova’s finest, Zdob Si Zdub, and his screaming solo lines and fat horn-section parts are a highlight throughout. When they are not moshing on the dancefloor, traditional instruments like the sopilka (the delicate wodden shepherd’s flute played by vocalist Oleksandr Yarmola)lead the way, and „Seven Sorrows“, which sounds like a Serbian or Macedonian trumpet lament, is a particular standout of the slower tracks. There are occasional epic stadium rock moments that might fare better at home than abroad, but thankfully the skin-tight trousers come out insufficiently frequently to prevent this being an exciting, vital record by one of the best European bands arround. - http://eastblok.de/ebm

HAYDAMAKY are back from Budapest where, on August 14, they played a full-scale concert on the main stage of Central and Eastern Europe’s largest and most popular Sziget Festival.



HAYDAMAKY’s success at Sziget, – the ever growing crowd, music fans cheering their heads off, Ukrainian flags in the front rows – remains a hot topic of conversation. It is always difficult to gather a big audience unless you’re headlining the show and the crowd is all warmed up, but HAYDAMAKY did it and made all Europe sing along. The one-hour concert that opened the third day of the festival went swimmingly, with the crowd shouting encore and journalists applauding at the press conference afterwards. HAYDAMAKY played their hit songs that have already become popular in Europe, the cover version of Motorhead’s Ace of Spades and Vyjshla Moloda from their new joint album with Polish legendary band Voo Voo.



HAYDAMAKY’s performance was complemented by the work of two Serbian VJ masters Zeljko Serdarevic and Dragan Mileusnic. The band was wearing stage clothes recently tailored by Alesya Telizhenko, who also designs clothing for the President’s family, singers Rosava and Nina Matvienko.

As promised, the band showed some real Cossack rock before being followed by Jet, Primal Scream and The Prodigy. HAYDAMAKY has become the first Ukrainian band invited to the star-studded Main Stage after Braty Bluzu's historical performance in 1998. Today this stage hosts the world’s best performances by renowned European music artists, Grammy award winners, bands with gold and platinum albums and Billboard chart leaders with as much as 50,000 music fans from all over the world watching the show.

- http:/haydamaky.com

1. Camille
Title: Assise
Album: Le Fil
Label: Virgin France
Catalogue No: 7243 5 63253 2 Country: France
Email/Web Link: www.camille-lefil.com
2. Cheba Maria
Title: Jenentinie
Album: Jenentinie
Label: MWC
Catalogue No: LM010 Country: Morocco
Email/Web Link: www.chebamaria.com
3. Nitin Sawhney
Title: Dead Man
Album: Philtre
Label: V2
Catalogue No: VVR1031272 Country: UK
Email/Web Link: www.nitinsawhney.com
4. Aïwa
Title: Ibn Sina
Album: Elnar
Label: Wikkid
Catalogue No: WKDCD101 Country: France/Iraq
Email/Web Link: aiwamusic.free.fr
5. Jennifer Lara
Title: Consider Me
Album: Studio One Women
Label: Soul Jazz
Catalogue No: SJRCD121 Country: Jamaica
Email/Web Link: tinyurl.com/9bn7y
6. Cheikh Lô
Title: N'Galula
Album: Lamp Fall
Label: World Circuit
Catalogue No: WLCD073 Country: Senegal
Email/Web Link: www.worldcircuit.co.uk
7. Kike Pedersen & Kadialy Kouyate
Title: Neike Javya - Be Happy
Album: Live in session
Label:
Catalogue No: Country: Paraguay/Senegal
Email/Web Link: www.kikepedersen.com
8. Sara Tavares
Title: Balancê
Album: CD Single
Label: World Connection
Catalogue No: WC 43059 Country: Cape Verde
Email/Web Link: www.worldconnection.nl
9. Julia Biel
Title: Treetops
Album: F-ire Collective: Works, Vol 2
Label: F-ire
Catalogue No: F-Ire CD 09 Country: UK
Email/Web Link: www.f-ire.com
10. Lou Rawls
Title: Dead End Street
Album: Sound of the City: Chicago
Label: EMI
Catalogue No: 7243 539459 2 3 Country: USA
Email/Web Link: tinyurl.com/du6v3
11. Ambrose Campbell
Title: Iku Koni Payin
Album: London is the Place for Me 3
Label: Honest Jons
Catalogue No: HJRCD21 Country: Nigeria/UK
Email/Web Link: www.honestjons.com
12. Moscow Art Trio
Title: Children's Song
Album: Instead Of Making Children
Label: Jaro
Catalogue No: 4274-2 Country: Russia
Email/Web Link: tinyurl.com/atjk5
13. Woodhead Monroe
Title: Mumbo Jumbo
Album: 7" single
Label: Oval
Catalogue No: WOOD 17 Country: UK
Email/Web Link: tinyurl.com/bfmy2
14. Haydamaky
Title: Behind Our Barn
Album: Ukraine Calling
Label: EastBlok
Catalogue No: EBM005 Country: Ukraine
Email/Web Link: www.haydamaky.com
15. Kadialy Kouyate & Kike Pedersen
Title: Fondinke
Album: Live in session
Label:
Catalogue No: Country: Senegal/Paraguay
Email/Web Link: www.kikepedersen.com
16. Gorillaz
Title: Kids with Guns
Album: Demon Days
Label: EMI
Catalogue No: 0946 311691 2 0 Country: UK
Email/Web Link: www.gorillaz.com
17. Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim
Title: Baai
Album: Ceasefire
Label: Riverboat
Catalogue No: TUGCD1038 Country: Sudan
Email/Web Link: www.worldmusic.net
18. Forty Thieves Orchestra
Title: Slow Burn Red
Album: Forgotten Tales
Label: Crafty Music
Catalogue No: promo Country: UK
Email/Web Link: www.forty-thieves.com
19. Kal
Title: Duj Duj
Album: Kal
Label: Asphalt Tango
Catalogue No: ATR-0906 Country: Serbia
Email/Web Link: www.kupala.ru
21. Allen Toussaint
Title: Tipitina & Me
Album: Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album For The Gulf Coast Hurricane Victims
Label: Nonesuch
Catalogue No: 7559-79934-2 Country: USA
Email/Web Link: www.nonesuch.com
22. The Books
Title: vogt dig for kloppervok
Album: Lost and Safe
Label: Tomlab
Catalogue No: TOM 50 Country: USA
Email/Web Link: www.thebooksmusic.com
23. Seasick Steve & The Level Devils
Title: 8 Ball
Album: Cheap
Label: There's a dead skunk records
Catalogue No: DSR 0035 Country: USA
Email/Web Link: www.seasicksteve.com
24. Soothsayers
Title: Blinded Souls
Album: Tangled Roots
Label: Red Earth Records
Catalogue No: REDECD002 Country: UK
Email/Web Link: www.soothsayers.net - http://www.charliegillett.com/

January 8 to 14, 2009, the second Küstendorf Film and Music Festival will be held in the Serbian village of Küstendorf built by a famous film director Emir Kusturica. Haydamaky received an invitation from Kusturica and will play at the Festival on January 10.

Before meeting with Emir’s The No Smoking Orchestra and its leader Nele Karajlic in Kiev, the closest countries to Serbia Haydamaky had ever played in were Slovenia and Hungary. However, as Emir opened his own film festival with an exquisite music program, this old acquaintance eventually resulted in an interesting offer. Haydamaky, whose music is based on the synthesis of the Ukrainian and Balkan sounds, will very soon play in the center of the Balkans. It is here, near a picturesque village of Mokra Gora, in the region called Mećavnik (also known as Sharengrad or Drvengrad, “The Wooden Town”), where Emir Kusturica built a traditional Serbian village as a setting for his film Life Is a Miracle, which over the last five years has been living its own self-sustained life. Playing in the highlands of Küstendorf is an event of special significance to Haydamaky because it will help them learn more deeply the culture they are so interested in, and present their own culture in the Balkan lands.

The program of this year’s Küstendorf Film&Music Festival, which is sponsored by the Serbian Ministry of Culture, will include the works of young film directors from 16 countries of the world, masterpieces by world famous film-makers, presentation of Maradona by Kusturica, and a retrospective dedicated to the works by the legendary Jim Jarmush visiting the Festival as a special guest. The list of bands to play at the Küstendorf Festival includes Zdob şi Zdub (Moldova), La Mano Ajena (Chile), Natty Bo & the TOPCATS (Great Britain), Lebi Sol (Macedonia), Serbian bands Stribor Kusturica & Vrelo, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, and a folklore ensemble Svetozar Markovic. Haydamaky will play on the third day of the Festival.

After the Küstendorf Festival, Haydamaky will visit the showcase festival EuroSonic in Groningen, Netherlands, which is also one of the world’s largest music industry exhibitions. - http://www.haydamaky.com/en/main.php?id=611

Following their success at Emir Kusturica’s stage in Serbia, Haydamaky went on to the EuroSonic Noorderslag, one of the world’s largest popular music showcase festivals held in the center of Groningen, Netherlands. Haydamaky’s performance was broadcasted live by German FM and Internet radio stations and will appear on air for three more times this year in 24 countries of the world.

Promising European performers of 34 different nationalities gathered at the 30 stages of EuroSonic-2009 with 2650 world show business representatives watching them play. The aim of the festival, which has been held in Netherlands for twenty five years now, is to provide a venue for managers and producers of leading recording companies, concert agencies, and other music industry companies to meet with interesting bands for further fruitful cooperation. In addition, every year the festival is visited by around 20,000 music lovers from different countries of the world, and highlighted by nearly 200 international journalists. The event is organized by the European Broadcast Union which brings together 24 popular radio stations, including the BBC, promoting both the festival and its participants. High quality live recording of all performances done by the Dutch National Radio 3FM is a great opportunity for the bands to be heard again and again even in the countries where they’ve never played. Haydamaky are sure that their success at EuroSonic together with the powerful publicity of the event will soon give tangible results. A photo of Haydamaky playing on stage was even selected among other 226 participating bands from all over Europe and posted on the event’s homepage.

At the beginning of February, Haydamaky are due to set off for a long planned European tour where the clubs of Germany, Netherlands and Austria await for the band’s gigs. It took half a year for Haydamaky and their producer Kader Kesek, who worked with such rock legends as Peter Maffay and Metallica, to prepare a show that will soon be presented in these three countries.
- http://www.haydamaky.com/en/main.php?id=626

February 9, 2009, an official reception dedicated to the Ukrainian film industry was organized within the framework of the 59th International Berlin Film Festival, Germany’s main film art exhibition, which is also the world’s second greatest film event surpassed only the Cannes Festival. The reception which was made possible thanks to the contribution of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Fund, the Ukrainian Film Foundation and Nemiroff Company, gathered more than 200 representatives of the international film industry, famous film directors, actors, producers and reviewers. Haydamaky, who were invited for the ceremony, gave an outstanding performance at the Berlinale party in the very heart of Europe’s cinema capital. The concert was part of Haydamaky’s ongoing tour around Germany, Austria and Netherlands being the second, after Emir Kusturica’s Festival, film event the band was invited to.

Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) provides a venue for presentations, meetings and discussions. For two weeks, the world’s greatest film industry meetings, as well as art, glamour and business parties are held here with nearly 19,000 film professionals from 120 countries, including 4,000 journalists, visiting the Festival every year. The Ukrainian official reception this year was attended by Ukrainian and foreign politicians, German and Ukrainian film stars and artists. Among them were the Berlinale managers, Berlin’s officals, Ukrainian and German Ambassadors, TV producer Oleksandr Rodnyanskyi, film producer Oleg Kokhan, famous Ukrainian writers Andriy Kurkov and Yuriy Andrukhovych, who is also an old friend of Haydamaky. The party guests were treated with traditional Ukrainian snacks, salo sandwiches, and exquisite vodka cocktails.

Most of the films presented at the Berlinale Festival are European or world premiers of different genres, length and format. It is the second year that the Ukrainian filmmakers have shown their works at the Berlinale and The European Film Market (EFM). Five Ukrainian films are being presented at the Festival: «Æèâ³» (Alive) by Serhiy Bukovsky, «Ìåëîä³ÿ äëÿ øàðìàíêè» (The Melody for a Street Organ), «Ðàéñüê³ ïòàõè» (The Birds of Paradise), by Roman Balayan, «Îäíîãî ðàçó ÿ ïðîêèíóëàñü» (One Day I Will Wake Up) by Maria Kondratieva, and a full-length animated cartoon«Ïðèãîäè áðàâîãî âîÿêà Øâåéêà» (The Good Soldier Svejk). A new bilingual catalogue The Ukrainian Films 2008-2009 has also been presented during the event. For the first time in the last seven years, the list of nominees for the Golden Bear Statue included a work by a Ukrainian director, the short film «Ä³àãíîç» (The Diagnosis) by Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi. - http://www.haydamaky.com/en/main.php?id=644