"Cool & Jazzy" (A cappella). The Official site. Singers

Natalia AFANASIEVA Tamara MADEBADZE
Yuri SMIRNOV	Semen VELICHKO	Aleksei BUSURIN

Yuri Smirnov (tenor, bariton, bass) – band leader, composing & arrangements

When he was a child, he liked to play soccer and take to pieces everything he could get. That's why his future looked like engineering, or, less probably, sport. Were that genes or his mother's insistence, but he became a musician. First he entered the legendary Gnesin college of music, than - the institute. Music became the sence of his life.

Together with his brother, Yuri came to the Male Jewish Chamber Chorus, and then, unexpectedly even for himself, he founded the band known today as "Cool&Jazzy". Jury loves classic music, most ov all Rakhmaninov, whose music burned this love in his heart. He does not like the "various" russian pop music (that's not patriotic, but true :).

Besides music, his another devotion is mysticism, Eastern religion and everything that stays opposite to material attitude to life. He dreams to become famous together with "Cool&Jazzy" and open an orphanage.

Education: The College of Variety and Jazz

(chorus conductor)

Aleksei Busurin (tenor)

All his conscious and subconscious life Alexey learned to play (not only) musical instruments. At long last he didn’t succeed to play any so he firmly resolved to sing.
Pacing around the room he sang aloud his favorite songs pretending to be a gramophone or a tape-recorder. When his favorite songs finished up he started to compose his own.

        After enlightenment he founded his own funk-punk-oxymoron band Fruit Kefir, which is to present days his proof of existence.
       He had first learned about Cool & Jazzy when he heard the vocal cover of the “Bravo” band song “Wind knows”. After that he kept in mind that Cool & Jazzy is an interesting group.
       While playing in his own band Alexey started to look for new sensations and wanted to try a different line, why not a cappella.
       When he had received a proposition to participate in a cappella group he could not realize his luck.
        And just after a few rehearsals he had found out that the group is called Cool & Jazzy :)

Education: The College of Variety and Jazz
(jazz piano)

Natalia Afanasieva (soprano)

Little Natalia spent quiet long sleepless nights. Got used to sleep at the orchestra pit while her Mom was rehearsing at “Sovetskaya Pesnya”, she couldn’t fall asleep without soffit’s lights and kettle-drums rumble. She was sent to her Grandma to Latvia to calm and settle down. There she fell into middle-school, music school, dance school, and English

classes at the same time, just not to feel blue. When she turned to Moscow, she added theater and painting to this list.
But studying brought no happiness: she gained an ‘OK complex’: “everything is OK, I study good, I look OK, I play and sing good... I don’t want to! I want to be special” – Natasha thought. Such ideas do not attract many friends but give many new opportunities: in her fifteen Natasha entered the second year at the Gnesins college of Variety and Jazz, at the same time finishing school. She always had the best marks, at the same time sang at different bands (Yarina-Taya ethno band, acted as a fifth boy in “Edem” band). Her great wish was to take part and win. Once, at a contest, she came across a band with a strange name “Cool&Jazzy”. Well, - she thought, I’ve never can do it like that”. Five years passed, and she could, becoming the inseparable part of the band.

Education: The College of Variety and Jazz
(jazz vocal)

Tamara Mabebadze (alt)

In October 1987 a long-expected child was born. She was given a name Tamara after the Georgian Queen… From the cradle she rejoiced her folks with her “bewitsing” voice. What a bass surprised everyone hearing the fair-haired “curly Sue”. She grew up as a very diligent and responsible child. From her infancy she started to think about future profession.

At first she considered herself to be a tragic actress – it didn’t work out. Then thirst for creating and inventing something new made her arrive at idea of becoming a chemist-inventor.She started to practise music at the age of 5: taking part in singing circle, but somehow the love for music didn’t woke up. Maybe the reason was parallel studies at the musical school.12 y.o. The first trip abroad to the musical festival. This is where it all started. As the years passed she more and more fell in love with the stage. And the question whom should I be disappeared. Obviously a singer or even better a performer!!!After school she applied to University of Contemporary Art on the faculty of jazz vocal. At the university she heard about Cool & Jazzy group for the first time. She dreamt about singing there but had never expected it to happen.And then some day she receives an sms: “Toma would you like to sing at Cool & Jazzy?” You bet!!! So she plucked up her heart, came to the audition and here she is!

Education: The College of Variety and Jazz
(jazz vocal)

Semen Velichko (bariton)