Kommuna Lux band:
Klezmer & Odessa Gangsta Folk!
“In Odessa, people find togetherness. In Odessa, all will laugh and sing.”
Ukraine’s Kommuna Lux validates these words from an old poem, performing their own style called “Odessa Gangsta Folk:” thrilling klezmer music and common gangster folk songs from their hometown, all with a dose of rocket fuel.
Odessites have always been known for their great tolerance, easy-going lifestyle, and very special sense of humor. This multicultural port city is world-famous for its significant Jewish culture and for being the birthplace of the Urban Chanson genre. The streets are rich with nostalgia and a bohemian Black Sea coastal vibe.
These are set to a timeless new level by the vibrant performances of the lovely singer Bagrat Tsurkan and his charming musicians. Kommuna Lux plays joyful songs and melodies from Odessa and all Eastern Europe in spiced up arrangements.
The atmosphere at the concerts of Kommuna Lux is absolutely unique! There is a touch of history and a maritime aura in the air, as well as the timeless antics and humor of the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. The melodies are filled with shaking rhythms, refreshing anarchy, and plenty of joie de vivre!
All the musicians are sons of Odessa, the Pearl of the Black Sea. They founded the group around 2014, with many exciting adventures kicking off a street gang equipped with musical instruments instead of knives. At their wild performances in the backyards in the
Jewish quarter of Moldavanka, the neighborhood was magnetically attractive to never-ending cheerful evenings.
In those days, surprised Odessites reported noisy flash mobs of the gangsters making music all around town--at the famous city market called Privoz, in the old wooden tram line number 5, on the Primorsky Boulevard promenade, and on rusty rocking boats on the popular Lustdorf beach. This pioneering time was followed by major concerts on renowned stages of the city and then the country, still under the original band name “Dengi Vpered”.
The emerging band carried out brilliant concert tours to the USA, Israel, Brazil, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. They even regularly printed their own magazine describing all their adventurous experiences, amusing stories, and their hustle and bustle.
families were typically housed in one single apartment. Like those crowded spaces, people from all walks of life gather in the spacious backyards of Odessa to enjoy music. “Lux” emphasizes the value of this steady get-together, as well as the highest quality of music-making.
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Kommuna Lux have been collecting donations at all their concerts to support humanitarian causes. Very few concerts are still held in Ukraine, and those are under difficult conditions. But the musicians are very excited about the numerous scheduled international performances ahead.
In 2020, there was a moment of turbulence as the band replaced their singer and changed their name. The new name refers to the notorious Kommunalka from the days of the USSR, when several
“For me, Odessa is my mother, we just belong together. And if you want songs - there are many of them in Odessa; and I carry them all in me, just like the love for my mother.” This quote from a local hit affirms the symbolic expression “Odessa Mama,” which Odessites affectionately call their city. Kommuna Lux also honor their hometown and its immeasurable treasure of songs - with a brilliant sound and spectacular concert!
Shalandas full of mullet
(Shalanda is a small vessel of the barge type, designed for loading or unloading ships on a raid. Mullet is a type of fish.
“Shalandas full of mullet” was also a popular soviet song.)
It is impossible to imagine Odesa without the romantic fisherman Kostya and his beloved Sonya. Their love story still inspires people, because the characters of the song seem so close and familiar. As if only yesterday we met these lovers somewhere on the wharf. The image of Kostya and Sonya is so deeply rooted in the list of urban legends that their heroes can be found both in the form of sculptures on Pryvoz(famous, old product market) and Moldavanka(districts of Odesa), and at Odesa city holidays, where they either unite the hearts of citizens at a marriage ceremony, or lead a flashmob of kisses for more than thousands of couples. However, few people know about how exactly this song appeared…
“Shalandas y full of mullet” was written for the film about military days called “Two Fighters”, directed by Leonid Lukov in 1943. Its authors were composer Nikita Bogoslovsky and Kyiv poet Volodymyr Agatov.
In the initial version of the script of the film, there were no songs at all, but later the director decided to add them. He asked the composer to write music “in the style of cheerful Odesa street songs.” However, Nikita Bogoslovsky, a russian by origin, knew absolutely nothing about Odesa spirit. And in the end, where would you find the inspiration, if the filming took place in Tashkent?
The solution was found! There was an announcement placed in the local newspaper asking everyone who knows Odesa songs to come to the film studio. The next day, many people - and respected doctors and people whose appearance hinted at a criminal pastcame. Two days were spent searching for Odesa motives. And then, combining the characteristic rhythm and intonations, a melody appeared, which would later become a business card of Odesa. The text of the “Odesa’’ song was written by Agatov from Kyiv, based on his own poem. However, a true native citizen will notice inaccuracies here. After all, in the spring, the Odesa Fountain is covered with acacia trees, not cherry trees. And the sailor Kostya, most likely, smoked not “Kazbek”, but the Odesa cigarettes “Salve”, which were known all over the world.
Ah, my Odesa, my love
There are many melodies in the Odesa repertoire that are known to every resident. One of them is the song “Ah, my Odesa, my love”, which is a real confession of love for the city. Every line of this song tells that this city always remains in our heart. “Ah, Odesa” captures the soul of an Odesa citizen, wherever he is. Leonid Utyosov, the first performer and creator of this song, once said: “I was born in Odesa. Do you think I’m boasting? It is so! Many people would like to be born in Odesa, but not everyone can do it. For this, your parents need to get to this city at least a day before your birth. My family lived there all their lives...”
We don’t know if you have ever been to Odesa, but after listening to this song, you will be convinced that this is a very special place of power in the south of Ukraine.
The melody of this song is the same as the song “Why, why” from the Odesa Film Studios movie “The Story of First Love”, which was released in 1957. Why did this happen? This question remained unanswered until 2010. Then, Odesa journalist Oleksandr Galyas gave a “special editorial task” to the musician Oleksandr Stepanov to find out the history of the song’s appearance by the Russian composer Andriy Eshpai. It turned out that Utyosov liked the song from the film “The Tale of First Love” so much that he asked the composer for permission to use this melody for a song about Odesa. It is interesting that the song “Ah, my Odesa” went way more viral than its original musical source in terms of popularity.
Jewish wedding
At first, we wanted to tell you about the Odesa wedding in the courtyard of the house, sandwiches with fish, gifts and “tears of the young” in the half-empty glasses of the guests, but we decided not to. It is better to talk about the symbol of the Odesa wedding or the local Charlie Chaplin - Fima the Postman. “Middle-aged, thin, short, with black curly hair and small whiskers”, - this is how local historian Mykhailo Poyzner described him.
From the very morning on wedding days, Fima was on duty on the steps of the Palace of Marriages on Richelievska Street. He was trying to find out the addresses of the wedding celebrations for tonight. The postman collected all the telegrams and greeting cards from the post office and brought them directly to the wedding. Later, he added to his “repertoire” some songs and guidelines for a new family.
He usually appeared in the middle of the wedding evening. After finishing his program, Fima, like a real postman, went around the guests. He gave everyone a holiday card, spoke kind words and complimented women. The guests always gave money for such attentiveness, and the “hosts” of the wedding treated the postman well. So during the evening, Fima visited dozens of addresses. Odesa’s Charlie Chaplin has been a wedding symbol of the city and its lucky omen for decades. And some of his wedding songs are still popular among the people.
Man’ka
History has erased those who were the authors of the melody and text of “Man’ka”. Despite the lack of any criminal details in the content, the song still entered the old “classics’’ of street gangster folklore. The plot takes us to the very heart of Odesa in the 1920s - the Pecheskago restaurant, one of the oldest and most colorful establishments founded in the 19th century. The local pub was very popular because you could order a Pilsner beer there, and this beer had its fans all over Europe at that time.
It’s said that the song was popular in local criminal circles. But don’t rush to think of Odesa as the capital of banditry and a dangerous port city. These are nothing more than urban legends.
“Man’ka” was mentioned in several literary works like “The Pit” by Oleksandr Kuprin, in “Autobiographical Novel” by Oleksandr Green, also in the novel “The Wind” by Boris Lavrenev. In Kuprin’s novel, the heroine of the prostitute Katya says: “This song is sung by thieves and “hypesnytsia” in taverns in Moldavanka and Peresyp (districts of Odesa).”
“Hypesnytsia” were female criminals who encouraged the client to “love pleasures” so that her partners could catch them in the act. According to the scenario, what followed was either extortion or direct robbery with the certainty that the victim would not report the situation to the police in order not to reveal the “spicy details”.
Lemons
And now we invite you to move to one of the hot Odesa balconies, where Sara planted and grew a whole bunch of lemons. However, don’t you think that the plot of the song is so simple.
Although it is warm in Odesa, it is not warm enough to grow citrus fruits on the balcony. The word “lemon” acquired a completely different meaning during the post-revolutionary hyperinflation of the 20th century. Millions of rubles depreciated daily were called lemons then. The ironic meaning of lemons is hinted at by another phrase of those times: “For a lemon and even more, you’ll get nothing.”
The melody of “Lemons” was written by the famous coupletist Lev Markovych Zingertal. His popularity was so huge that even impostor twins started to appear. So on all the tour posters he indicated: “The real Lev Markovich Singertal has arrived.” Yakiv Yadov was the author of the text for the song. It was once
mentioned about him: “He wrote his songs quickly and without mistakes. The next day, all Odesa already knew these songs by heart.”
Despite its star “parents”, the song “Lemons” is still mistakenly called a folk song. This is due to the fact that it quickly entered the repertoire of dozens of singers and coupletists, gaining new and new couplets. The most important thing was to follow the rule - in each verse you had to mention the Jewish name, and this person had to have some adventures described in the song.
Leonid Utyosov’s “Tea-Jazz” also performed this song. Despite the banning of authentic music within the history of the totalitarian Soviet Union regime, Utyosov managed to record Odesa music. However, only the melody remained from the authentic “Lemons”. Utyosov did not dare to sing over the Jewish verses. Later, the song was officially banned from being sung on the territory of the USSR...
Fortunately, the song was not forgotten. It remained in the private songbooks of the residents, although some versions, of course, were lost.
Money
1960-70s... Public performance of Odesa songs is not recommended. However, it was only necessary to sing a new “thing” somewhere once, as after a day or two the whole city already picked it up. The texts were copied and transmitted, and the catchy motives of the melody immediately entered the listeners’ heads and did not let go.
Basically with songs Odesa residents responded to the most relevant city events. So, in August 1970, when the cholera epidemic began, all of Odesa sang: “Cholera started on Deribasivska Street, one lady caught it from a gentleman.” Later, the song “Money” appeared, which described this difficult period and pain…
In the 1910s and 1920s, the “couplet genre” gained popularity. It is interesting that Odesa was an epicenter of this genre creation. Pop artists sometimes call the city the “factory of coupletists”. Here, among Odesa gardens, cafes, and illusionists, hundreds of artists were performing, singing couplets and wearing formal dresses.
In those years, coupletists performing in various “national” images were very fashionable in Odesa. In their program, they used techniques of parody, sharp satire and irony. The most prominent category here were Jewish coupletists. They sang texts written by Jewish poets, used Jewish names in the plots, accompanied it with Jewish melodies, the so-called freylekhs (Jewish wedding dance), and used specific language structures.
Such catchy songs spread the popularity of Odesa all over the world. Many people, without even visiting Odesa, are using an “Odesa accent” and local words. And all this thanks to music.
“Khayim”, “Rakhilya”
Seven-forty
What holiday song has only two numbers in the title? Post-Soviet countries will easily answer this question. This is “Seven Forty”.
It is difficult to find out the name of the author of a popular melody today. They say that this melody appeared in the last years of the 19th century. And at the beginning of XX, the composition performed by the orchestra was released on records without giving it a name. Later, the melody “Seven-forty” was used as a basis for Jewish songs, the words for which were often invented directly in the performance process.
The song became so popular that it became legendary - there are several versions of its creation. One version is that exactly at 7:40 a.m. a train with Jews arrived at the Odesa
station from the Moldavian city of Bendery. According to the law at the time, people of this nationality were not allowed to live in big cities, so they traveled back every evening. While waiting for the train, the Jews warmed themselves on the platform and danced to this simple melody.
According to another version, the song is not about a train at all, but about a steam tram. It was circling around Odesa at the end of the 19th century. The main character of the composition is Raymond Legode, an industrialist from Belgium. He built the tram line in Odessa. And the numbers 7:40 are actually the time when the tram first left the line.
The third version says that the name is taken from the Jewish holiday Simhat Torah. There is a thought that people simply mispronounced this name in russian, and it is still used.
Broyges tantz (dance)
One of the most popular Jewish dances is the freilach. During the Soviet times, the most famous Jewish melody for the freilach was the song “Seven-forty”. However, this national choreographic tradition is so much more.
It is said that for the first time the Jews began to dance immediately after obtaining the Torah, near the foundation of Mount Sinai. Other ancient references to Jewish dances are the dance of the seven veils performed by Salome for King Herod in exchange for the head of John the Baptist and King David’s “leap and dance” before God when the tabernacle was brought to Jerusalem. Certain phraseologies are even associated with Jewish dances. The Polish nobility during the
days of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth amused themselves by catching a Jew and forcing him to dance the mayufis to the motif of one of the hymns. Since then, the expression “to dance mayufis” means to humiliate oneself in front of someone.
There were other dances that were commonly performed at Ashkenazic weddings: the sher or sherel (a Jewish version of the quadrille), the patch dance, which symbolized the change in status from bride to married woman, and the passionate Broyges dance, which demonstrated the “fight dance.” The dancers had to first show hostility and then reconciliation through movements and facial expressions.
Odesa songs can be heard everywhere — from movies to solo performances with a guitar on the streets. Can you imagine Odesa without songs? No, because the city cannot tell its story without music. Such a multicultural and multinational Odesa is hidden among the various chords of Odesa melodies.
However, I would like to remind you that its story is not about banditry, the prosperity of criminality. Odesa is the liberty city, the European porto-franco(tax free zone) with different nationalities.
Что я с этого буду иметь
Гефилте фиш
Ах Одесса моя
Еврейская свадьба
Одесса Булгар
Лимончики
Шаланды
Одесский порт
У самовара
Манька
Фрейлехс
7:40 Аманины
Рахиля
Хаим
Денежки
Чубчик
Гуцулка Ксеня
Як служив я в пана
