Yuriy Kovtun. BraviBelli.

(item from the "Rare Discs" section)
History testifies to that the album "BraviBelli" was initiated a few years ago, when the Kyivite Yury Kovtun came back from Italy. It inspired him for composing music – and, as a result, there are now quite a lot of melodies. According to his own confession, Yury selected for this album only those compositions that were written at once, at one go. It must have been easy to breath then... In any case, the album at once creates elated, festive mood – but in a surprising way. In the correct way. Because, although about a half of the compositions can hardly be called merry ones – a smile is very expressly felt in them. Somewhere dim, somewhere transparent, somewhere dreamy, somewhere thoughtful – but it is present in each piece, and it warms. In general, the album is very lively, sincere, straightforward. Here you find light jazz, and a bit of acid, and high-quality pop, and the atmosphere of old movie theaters, and laughter of street musicians, and a drop of new age – and everywhere, indeed, there is the taste of Italy. The melodies, arrangements are often so expressive, bright that they make this presence almost physically perceptible. For this, we should express separate gratitude to the invited musicians – beautiful work (by the way, "bravi" means in Italian "excellent, wonderful, experienced, adroit, able, brave, bold, courageous". And "belli" is "beautiful, wonderful, kind, pleasant, affectionate, successful, deserved, valorous, brave"). Honestly speaking, it is very pleasant when the heart of a musician is so open that it can admit in itself the real atmosphere of a whole country. Can reproduce it in sounds. Pleasant, when an ordinary listener can then easily feel this atmosphere, breathe in – and understand. And – smile.

Anton Jozhik Leyba (Hedgehog)

Yuriy Kovtun – music (1-10,12), texts (2,9-11), vocal (9,10), samples (8)
Tetyana Shamshetdinova – music (9,11), piano, keyboards (1-12), vocal (11), back-vocal (1,2)
Hennadiy Sydorov – guitar (1,3,6-8,11-12), back-vocal (1)
Ihor Chernov – soprano-sax (5,12), tenor-sax (1,5,8), clarinet (6,9)
Elastyk Riddim – vocal (2)
Igor Zakus – bass-guitar (12)
Petr "Petruccio" Yakovchenko – flugelhorn (3,9)
Oleksiy Sahitov – trombone (9)
Volodymyr Zinkovsky – flute (10)
Oleksandr "Kubik" Kubyshkin – back-vocal (2)
Kyrylo Borodin – violin (5,6)
Kateryna Dubovyk – violin (2)
Marianne Anthe – samples (8)
Yulia Berezovs‘ka – samples (1)