In 1987, with the Cold War still raging, Dean Evenson met Ukrainian jazz virtuoso Volodymyr Solianyk during a visit to Kyiv as part of a Citizen Diplomacy artist tour to the former Soviet Union. When Volodymyr came to the United States a few years ago, he and Dean rekindled their musical friendship while laying down piano and flute tracks in the Soundings of the Planet studio.
Since the war in Ukraine, they have reconnected again and are now releasing their collaborative album Seeds of Peace. At the time of Seeds of Peace release, Volodymyr has relocated to Norway seeking refuge from war in Ukraine
The story of how Dean and Volodymyr met.
Dean and his wife Dudley had organized a group of artists to travel to the Soviet Union as citizen diplomats with the express purpose of meeting musicians and dancers and collaborating with them.
During that time, a local pianist began to play in a rather free-form, improvisational style. Standing in the wings, the Evensons looked at each other and realized that this Ukrainian man was playing their style of peaceful music. Their mikes were already set up so without ever having met him, Dean and cellist Jonathan Kramer walked out onto the stage just as a Soviet drummer and bass player set up and they had an instant band. The music flowed forth as if rehearsed. Dudley joined with hand harp, and they had their spontaneous debut in the USSR. The crowd went wild with bravos and foot stomping. The high point was getting to know Volodymyr Solianyk, the pianist, and to begin the first of several performances and recordings with him.
The next night they had their debut at the Kyiv Jazz Club. Mykola Chepovetsky, writer for ‘News from the Ukraine’ and spokesman for the group, expressed their understanding that these Americans had come, not only as musicians, but as envoys of goodwill, friendship, and peace. He said, “Since you play such an important genre of music which is encouraged by the natural resources of the earth, the importance of your visit here is doubled, because for us, the preservation of this planet is a primary responsibility.”
Their recordings and performances in Ukraine and Russia continued and the following year Soundings of the Planet released the album Music Makes the Snow Melt Down featuring Soundings and Soviet musicians including avant-garde performer Sergey Kuryokhin. Many years later they were delighted when Volodymyr was able to visit the United States and continue the piano and flute collaborations which have now become the album Seeds of Peace. With the war in Ukraine, Volodymyr has relocated to Norway seeking refuge. This means a lot to Dean with his strong Norwegian roots, knowing that his family’s homeland would welcome asylum seekers fleeing the ravages of war.
As with all Dean Evenson’s peaceful music recordings, Seeds of Peace includes the Earth Resonance Frequency of 7.83 Hz under the music mix. This frequency is the same as the Alpha/Theta brainwave state that occurs when one is relaxed yet still awake and aware.
Listen to Seeds of Peace on your streaming platform of choice: https://orcd.co/seedsofpeace
For more information, please visit: https://soundings.com/product/seeds-of-peace/
