La Horsa Bianca – in session at Live On-Air, Ukraine – December 6, 2018 –
La Horsa Bianca in session tonight. Recorded by Live On-Air, presumably in Kyiv on December 6, 2018.
As the utter insanity unfolds in Ukraine and the madness and atrocities mount by the hour and the day, sometimes we become numb and overwhelmed by the news. We see the faces of refugees, fleeing cities and towns for some semblance of peace. But the faces become a blur after a while; seas of people, nameless mostly to us. Somehow detached and feeling distant, almost helpless to do anything other than to gaze with horror and disbelief at our screens.
But you wonder sometimes; who are they? What was life like before hell made an entrance? What about the artists, the musicians, the writers – where are the ones who brought life and art and joy to this country, this nation of people torn apart by a war they didn’t choose?
The past few weeks have seen a growing concern for what is the creative lifeblood of Ukraine. One of those areas of concern is that of the musicians. Are they safe? Are they out of harms way? Are they in uniform and fighting in the streets?
At the moment there are several websites and YouTube pages devoted to Music in Ukraine. Europavox has done a pretty good rundown of Pop, Urban, hip-hop and EDM from Kyiv and surrounding areas. But the YouTube page called Bandsplaining ran a post listing 18 bands from Ukraine you need to know about. It’s worth a look and gives you a very good idea of what we are in danger of losing at the moment.
One of those bands which struck me is La Horsa Bianca; a band formed in July 2016 in Charkiw.
LA HORSA BIANCA was founded by bass player, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Eugene Manko, together with keyboardist Olga Ksendzovska, guitarists Maxim Trianov and Kirill Gonchar, and drummer/singer Igor Avdeyev. The band’s musicians came from very diverse musical backgrounds, having had explored such genres as rock, cabaret, early music, klezmer, academic avantgarde, experimental electronics, and classical. Initially conceived as a psychedelic outfit, the band quickly phased into the shared territory between psychedelic, art, space, and prog rock.
Tonight it’s a session they did in December of 2018; a couple of lifetimes ago. But I took an instant liking to them. They remind me very much of bands I loved from the 70s – Supersister, Caravan, Camel, Can . . .you get the idea.
I have no idea what the individual members of the band are up to or where they are or even if they are all right. They do have a website, but there seems to be little current information available aside from their Facebook page, which appears to be the most up-to-date.
Have a listen and do what you can. More bands and more posts on the way.
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