Yuriy Sharifov (25 May 1946, Lviv - 21 July 2017, the same city) was a Ukrainian musician, musicologist, composer and teacher, one of the first rockers in Ukraine. Bass guitarist of the Open Blues Band, author of chamber instrumental and symphonic works, jazz compositions and pop songs. The musician has collaborated with Sofia Rotaru, Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Nazariy Yaremchuk and many other artists.
He was born on 25 May 1946 in Lviv. He had Iranian-Greek-Ukrainian roots. His father was born in the city of Bam in the south of Iran, and his mother in Nizhyn, Chernihiv region. His father went to study trumpet at a conservatory in Baku, then served in the Soviet army, where his surname was recorded as "Sharif". Thanks to his military service, his father ended up in Nizhyn, where he met his future wife, and later they moved to Lviv to work.
Yurii knew from childhood that he would only be a musician.
"It wasn't that I discovered this music at a certain age, I grew up with it. I didn't run around in the yard like other kids. I have never been interested in cars, aeroplanes, or mechanisms in my life. Once my dad bought me a children's railway, and instead of playing with it, I took the roofs off the cars and played them like a violin while listening to music. "
Since childhood, he listened to the radio from Warsaw, where there was no Soviet propaganda and Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley were constantly playing... Later he played the violin and electric organ, but he had a liking for rhythm, so he eventually became a bass guitarist.
He received three musical degrees - violinist, musicologist and composer. He studied at a music school. In the mid-1960s, he was one of the first to play rock in the Soviet Union.
He met violists Igor Suliga, who played drums, and Yurii Bashmet, who played guitar. They formed an untitled trio, similar to Cream: bass, drums and guitar. Later, I was invited to the Philharmonic, to join the pop ensemble. After the tour, I realised that I didn't like it. He took odd jobs: he made a programme for a Leningrad folk-rock band, then for the Vladimirskie Udaltsy band, and then worked with Oleg Ukhnalov.
In 1965, as a member of the amateur ensemble "Electro" (Lviv House of Culture of Power Engineers of the Lvivprylad plant), he played pop music and songs: at first, English-language or instrumental music.
We also started playing in other places: a club in the church of Mary Magdalene, a university club, or a police club on Sichovykh Striltsiv Street, and then the Gas Club, which was a status place. He hosted a music programme on Lviv radio, which lasted for two years.
"We became cool and famous, and I started writing songs. Lviv radio recorded backing tracks for some performers. We were even made the official ensemble of Lviv Radio and Television. We were able to do some pretty strange things. For example, we played Kozak's song "Stryi Park" on electric guitars. Or we played a fragment of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake in a big-big version. "
In the 1970s and 1980s, he played in the Chernivtsi ensembles "Smerichka" and "Chervona Ruta" (musical director). In 1977, he founded the ensemble "Zhyva Voda" and was its director. Some musicologists call the song "Where did you get your blue eyes from" by the Zhyva Voda ensemble the first Ukrainian rock song. Lilia Sandulesa and Ivo Bobul started their careers in Zhyva Voda.
As a member of jazz, rock, pop, folk bands and with solo concerts, he toured 24 countries. He has participated in hundreds of festivals. He has collaborated with many personalities (Sofia Rotaru, Yuriy Bashmet, Nazariy Yaremchuk, Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Lilia Sandulesa, Ivo Bobul, Oleksandr Serov, Ihor Sarukhanov and many others).
He received the status of the best bassist of the Soviet Union.
Since the mid-1970s, he has been actively working in the field of electronic music. He hosted his own music programmes ("Exclusive") on the legendary Initiative radio station.
For some time, Yurii Sharifov worked in Sokal as a violin teacher at a music school. He taught "History of Pop Styles" at the conservatory. He is the author of the first special course in Ukraine on the history, theory and practice of jazz, rock and pop music for higher education institutions.
He is a jury member of many festivals, a long-term member and chairman of the jury of the Taras Bulba Ukrainian Rock Festival, the Talents of the Franko University, etc. Participant in many musical and cultural projects.
In 2005, the Open Blues Band was formed. The band often participated in numerous festivals: "Fluger Lviv", "Left Bank", etc.
"The Open Blues Band and I don't record a disc on purpose, because we play differently every time, better every time. Therefore, there is no need to record a composition that we will soon play more interestingly - we are no longer at the age and status to prove anything to anyone. We are happy that we shock foreign professionals with our performances, who refuse to believe that we are from Ukraine when we play our music correctly, authentically, the way it should sound. That's why we're in no hurry to record an album - we don't want to leave something unfinished as a souvenir. If we had stopped developing, we might have released the disc, but not in Ukraine. It's cheaper and faster to record in the US or the UK, where studios work to international standards, than to suffer with bad sound here. "
- Yuriy Sharifov
Together with the Open Blues Band, Yuriy Sharifov received the BOOM AWARDS 2016 in the category "Golden Fund of Pop", which was founded by the magazine BOOM plus TV. 2016.
He had ticket No. 1 in the first and only Beatles fan club in Ukraine, which was awarded "for services to rock music".
Member of the Coordination Council for Jazz, Rock and Pop Music of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine.
Member of the National Union of Musicians of Ukraine.
Author of music columns for many newspapers in Chernivtsi and Lviv. His discography includes more than 15 CDs.
In the spring of 2017, he planned to give an ambient solo concert.
He died on 21 July 2017. He was buried on 26 July at Lychakiv Cemetery (field 50).
