Leléka

It was a special moment. Burghausen in March 2018, Wackerhalle, LELÉKA stepping onto the stage. The previous evening the band had been voted winner of the new generation jazz artist's competition. After the fireworks of that short concert the musicians were now able to show how in a large hall they could enchant an audience that didn't yet know them. It was a triumph. As Viktoria Leléka and her three men band delighted people with contemporary modern jazz numbers that have their roots in Ukrainian folk music. Soon further competitions and successes followed, and it became apparent that this band, which came together in Berlin in 2016 and was already winning the 6th Global Creole Music Contest in Berlin by 2017 had gained a place on the European jazz scene.

While jazz only touches on the idea behind the music, through the use of rhythm and form it's the creative basis for improvisational freedom. Harmonically there are small scale jazz and folk elements. Melodically, in her articulation and phrasing, Viktoria Leléka is clearly following the folk models of her Ukrainian homeland. For her this is the centre of the music and this is what makes it so radiant. It is not about a change of tone colours but rather about a connection between traditions, right down to the subtleties of emotion that her voice conveys beyond the language. From the start, bass player Thomas Kolarczyk and drummer Jakob Hegner supported her in setting up the concept; in 2019 pianist Povel Widestrand became part of LELÉKA (which, by the way, means “stork” in English, a Ukrainian symbol for spring, good fortune).

“As our previous recordings were more like EP’s rather than actual albums”, Viktoria Leléka recalls the origin of “Sonce u Serci” (“Sun at heart”), “including the sometimes rather improvised results, we wanted to do everything properly this time. I wrote many of the arrangements; we rehearsed a lot. This way pieces arise that can reach out further into the future”. Some are about happiness and love, many draw directly on templates from folk music or adapt their esprit. The repertoire covers topics ranging from current concern about nature to memories of human arrogance in Chernobyl. Essentially however, it is about reassurance, conveyed musically, atmospherically through the power of the melodies and through the people who care about them. This way Leléka shows itself to be a band with an overarching sense of the sound world and the tonal nuances of the everyday

Press:

“This woman is truly a phenomenon."
JazzThing

“A voice with aura and a bright, soft sound full of captivating natural strength. This band’s concert had ancient and strong humanitarian messages to offer – and after an anti-war piece the audience stayed silent, holding their breath for 20 seconds. Where music achieves this, and in a hall for more than 1000 listeners like the Wackerhalle in Burghausen, then there are reasons for that.”
BR Klassik

„If this band doesn't manage to break through, an awful lot of things will need to have gone wrong..."
London Jazz News

“In the end, singer Viktoria Leléka’s Berlin quartet Leléka won, a band that transmutes old folk songs from her homeland Ukraine into a
highly diversified jazz in an astonishingly coherent and fresh way, without losing the drama of the original material. Four highly talented musicians made music here, music that clearly means a lot to them.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung