Music from the battlefield: Ukrainian activist, music promoter graces Israel's international fest.

Many people would naturally be hesitant to travel to Israel during these precarious times, but not Ukrainian music promoter Boris Zakharov.

Zakharov says he is not fazed by the prospect of coming here, along with his vocalist pianist wife, Marinita, to attend this year’s edition of the International Music Showcase Festival (IMSF), the 15th to date, which takes place in Jerusalem and Eilat, November 11-16.

The press release talks of hosting “a delegation of senior representatives of the global music industry, from all over the world.” The said professionals are due to fly in from such places as the US, Germany, England, Canada, Poland, Norway, Abu Dhabi, Honduras, Nepal, China, and Ukraine.

As the guest list has had to be rejigged on several occasions since it was first compiled, as one invitee or other caught cold feet, who knows how many will actually turn up at the Yellow Submarine in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Arts Campus in a few days’ time? Here’s hoping.

Meanwhile, the Zakharovs seem intent to come over to catch some of our talented artists in the jazz, world music, and indie fields doing their thing, the former as part of an inaugural collaboration with the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat.

With support for cultural ventures at a premium these days, it makes perfect fiscal sense to combine budgetary forces. That way, the offshore guests can catch bassist Avishai Cohen, pianist Omri Mor, and the Nigun Quartet down south, as well as singer-songwriters Gal De Paz and Geva Alon in the capital.

“The situation is that we also have war, our struggle with evil,” says Zakharov somewhat superfluously. “In Israel and the Ukraine, I think there is this axis of evil – Putin, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran – all these countries are totalitarian, and terrorist organizations also by proxy. We have the same situation, but in the Ukraine it is worse.”

All of which makes the security state of affairs all too familiar, although Zakharov and his wife have other things to worry about while they are here getting a practiced eyeful and earful of what we have to offer on the musical front.

“For me it is absolutely okay to come to Israel, but I am more afraid to leave our five children in Ukraine without us,” he smiles wryly. “Our children are aged from four to 22. The oldest one, Anna, she will look after everyone. She is a very responsible person,” he laughs. “We have good underground (cellar) in our house so I hope that missiles don’t fall on the heads of our children,” he adds without any perceivable anxiety or sadness.

That darkly humorous demeanor is, of course, something people living in dire straits – security-related or otherwise – learn to adopt as a form of emotional escape and a way of coping with the unremitting stress and tension.

Zakharov tends to the sunny side of life, and he is a major mover and shaker on the Ukrainian cultural scene, with a definite accent on artistic vehicles that seek to cultivate a better world for one and all. His bulging bio features such events as the Jazz Bez international festival, this year’s edition of which is due to take place in December in western Ukraine, away from the missiles, and in Poland.

There is also the Music of Freedom exhibition, the Via Carpatia International Central and Eastern European Forum, the national Espreso TV channel where he presents a show, and Humanitarian Studio Wave. The latter, founded 27 years ago, acts as an umbrella body for much of Zakharov’s cultural and peace-oriented activities, all of which makes him the perfect IMSF choice.

Jazz, classical, and contemporary are mixed in 

THE UKRAINIAN also digs much of our jazz and ethnic music scene. “I love jazz, world music, but also classical music and contemporary improvisational music,” he declares, noting that he generally steers a wide berth around commercial material. “Not pop,” he says.

Then again, there are exceptions to that rule. “When we speak about [internationally acclaimed kamancheh-spike violin player] Mark Eliyahu. He became very commercial,” Zakharov chuckles. “This direction of music is also our music,” he notes a little cryptically. Somehow it makes sense.

Dagestan-born 42-year-old Eliyahu is well versed in the roots music of Azerbaijan and is the son of revered composer, tar (string instrument) player, and teacher Piris Eliyahu. Eliyahu Jr. may have strayed from the ethnic straight and narrow in order to make a decent living, but no one can deny he has the necessary artistic credentials.

“Mark plays world music but with commercial elements. He played with my wife, Marinita, in 2013, 2014, and 2018, in different festivals in Ukraine. Marinita has also played and recorded with [Ukrainian-rooted Israeli guitarist] Dima Gorelik.”

Zakharov is an admirer of more of our musical guys and gals across various disciplinary fields. “There is [Iranian-born vocalist, wind instrument player, and percussionist] Amir Shahsar, who is brilliant, [jazz guitarist] Shachar Elnatan, and [jazz and ethnic music string instrument player] Amir Perelman. Jazz and world music, that is the music of freedom,” says Zakharov, reprising the belief that music is a universal language that bridges cultural and political divides.

“We need art and culture like the air we breathe. It is very important to support each other in this situation. Our countries are on the front line of the democratic liberal world,” he posits with a resounding laugh.

In fact, despite, or possibly due to his protracted trying existential circumstances, Zakharov comes across as a cheery character. He is driven to improve his lot and the lot of people around him and further afield, and he sees music and the arts as the way to go.

With a deep admiration for the work of the likes of Yemen roots music and Afrobeat singer Ravid Kahalani, mandolinist Avi Avital, and New York-based ethnically slanted jazz bassist Omer Avital, some of whom he has had over to perform in Ukraine, it is a fair bet that Zakharov will return to his battered homeland with more potential invitees to festivals over there in mind.

For more information about the IMSF, go to 2024.musicshowcaseil.com