— Good afternoon, Mr. Kiselev. What can you tell us about this year's festival, what was special about it?
— First of all, we faced many challenges when preparing this festival as all the arrangements had to be made in a very short time frame. Usually, preparations for a new festival start as soon as the previous festival finishes, whereas in this case we faced a force majeure situation. A group of my friends, who had organized the festival in the past, had to deal with a legal ban on any activity in Crimea. The situation was resolved only towards the end of spring. Of course, organizing an event of this scale on such a short notice was very difficult, and yet, we seem to have coped quite well. The overall impression is that we were able to invite excellent musicians and to ensure a very high level of organization and high-quality sound.
Speaking of the musicians, they came from all over the world — from India, Germany, Japan, the United States, Great Britain, and, of course, Russia. Overall, the festival brought together over 130 performers. Russian performers also represented a broad range of regions. A wonderful group from Tuva called Huun-Huur-Tu performed in the throat-singing genre, and Simferopol was represented by an excellent band called Hayat. The headliners of the festival were Grammy winner Tom Harrell and Grammy nominee Deborah Brown, a wonderful jazz singer and definitely one of the best jazz performers of our time.
So, what made our festival special was first of all the high level of performers and second, a very high sound quality, which was noted by everyone. All performers thanked us for the phenomenal sound quality at the festival, which is not very common for this kind of events The sound quality was very important for us, as the Koktebel Jazz Party, unlike its predecessors, was focused on a quality jazz sound. We wanted our audience to enjoy great jazz.
What else is different this year? I would mention the very professional video on the screens, which we were able to provide thanks to the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company cameras. It had the feel of a professional live broadcast. We are planning to create a 1.5-hour long video based on the filmed material and show it on the Kultura channel later this year.
Everything that I just mentioned was introduced at the festival for the first time this year.
In addition, back at the Jazz Koktebel festival I proposed the Jazz at the Speed of Light project. In 2006, a Russian-Ukrainian band, which was made up of two Russian and two Ukrainian students (all of them were graduates of a Moscow university, I believe) won an entertainment contest in Japan having played Let It Be over the Internet while located in different rooms. Since then, we have kept in touch and met with the guys on numerous occasions and this year we decided to repeat the project at the Koktebel Jazz Party, but at a completely different level. From now on, it will become an annual feature at our festival.
I also noticed that the audience was completely different this year. First, the festival attracted an unexpected number of people. We did not expect to have this many spectators given the problems with getting there and so on. Yesterday, all seats were sold out (we sold 1,500 tickets), and there were so many people that some of them could not even see what was happening on the stage, as, unfortunately we don't have an amphitheater. Second, the quality of the audience has also changed.
This year it was quite common to see men wearing suits and ties and women dressed in evening gowns. You could tell that they looked forward to this event and looked very jazzy, as opposed to the casual style prevailing in the previous years. Koktebel has traditionally been a very casual event, but this year the audience looked very different. At first, it was really strange for me, but then I realized that it was quite natural and very cool. Now, we'll have to match the expectations and the style of this new audience.
— Many performers were very impressed by the jam sessions and asked whether they will be held next year. Here is a quote from an interview I took about two hours ago: "It felt like coming home and being with friends and family — so many familiar faces…"
Yes, it will be a permanent feature of the festival and, of course, we planned it like that. We have even made up a list of improvements to be made next year. I think, the jam sessions should be held on stage and we'll need to set aside the time for them. One thing is when bands perform one after another in a concert program, and it's completely different when you have such a mix. We should think about ways to make it better. There is a technology to this — jam sessions shouldn't be held in a closed space with a limited number of people, but precisely the way it was done last weekend.
Speaking of improvements, we are thinking of creating an area with more expensive seating and letting the restaurants in, so that people could enjoy a show and a meal. We also need to figure out how to organize the space in front of the stage. This year it was done rather haphazardly, although on a decent level, but there is still room for improvement, and we are planning to move in that direction.
Many people from all over Russia come here specifically to attend the festival. Spectators from Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, different parts of Crimea, and, of course, from Moscow thanked us for what we have done. I should also mention the media. I have met many of my colleagues here. One of them is Flemming Rose, international editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. There was a journalist from India, who has already published some of her articles on the festival. In other words, the festival attracted significant media attention.
Obviously, our main objective was to organize the first major international cultural event in Crimea following the March 18 decision on the reunification with Russia, and we have fulfilled this goal. This is very important for Crimea and the Crimeans, all of whom have been essentially targeted by sanctions, unable to get a visa to anywhere. Foreign consulates in Moscow refuse to issue visas to them and they're also not welcome in Kiev. They have become part of Russia, but are facing difficulties in traveling anywhere beyond it. I believe these are temporary difficulties, but for now we need to support Crimea by holding jazz festivals and other events there.
I am very glad that the festival was absolutely not politicized and the musicians who come here are simply communicating and performing as human beings. They send an honest cultural message of jazz that all those silly things like international sanctions and unfriendly posturing mean nothing compared to the power of friendship and love. And this is exactly the message our performers send from stage.
We should also thank all those who supported us and all of our sponsors. Not all of their names are mentioned on our posters and banners, as many preferred to remain anonymous. And of course, we should mention the Ministry of Culture, the sponsor of the festival that is held as part of the Year of Culture in Russia. I am very pleased that Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky has visited our festival, as he played a critical role in organizing this event. Oleg Savelyev, the Minister for Crimean Affairs, has also attended the festival. I believe that what happened was very important for Crimea, Russia and the world.