Alina Zalozna
– singer and composer that blends jazz & folk music in a contemporary context
«Ukrainian Melodies» is a debut album by young jazz singer and composer Alina Zalozna independently released on 2nd November 2022, recorded with Ukrainian jazz musicians in Kyiv at Kaska Records Studios. The album consists of 10 Ukrainian folk songs presented in Alina’s jazz arrangements. Most of the melodies she knows from childhood or heard from the famous singers like Nina Matvienko, Kvitka Cisyk, Trio Marenych. Some of the songs became popular and important in society since the Russian invasion in 2014 and 2022. All authentic melodies are naturally blended with contemporary jazz and latin rhythms, combined with common jazz harmonic and melodic language. The aim of this project is to share and spread Ukrainian culture all over the world.
Alina was born in 1996 in Kherson (Ukraine), in an artistic family. She spent her childhood attending a lyceum of arts - a public school with art classes integrated, where her major was choreography. However, in her teen years, she discovered her interest in music and started to play the guitar and sing at a local music studio.
At 18, she decided to continue her music studies professionally. In Kherson Music College she was influenced by experienced and jazz-driven teachers, became a soloist in Kherson's big band, started to make her first jazz arrangements and compositions, and took part in national and international jazz competitions and workshops. After graduation from college Alina moved to Kyiv to study at Kyiv R. Glier Music Academy and to explore the jazz scene.
In 2019 she won first prize in the Baku jazz competition. In 2020 her co-composed song “Alicia’s Song” was featured in an album by Hans Peter Salentin and Hans Fuecker - “Living Room”. Alina’s debut album “Ukrainian Melodies” (2023) was recorded with well-known Ukrainian jazz musicians: Borys Mohylevskyi, Oleksandr Malyshev, Denys Dontsov, Valentyn Korniienko and Pavlo Halytskyi.
