- Full name – Oleksiy Vadymovich Kogan
- Date of birth – November 10, 1957
- City – Teofipol (Ukraine)
- Languages – Ukrainian, Polish, English
- Activities – musician, TV and radio host, journalist
Key facts from the biography
Oleksiy Kogan is a Ukrainian musician (bass guitarist), host of radio and television programs, as well as jazz concerts. Critic, promoter, journalist. Founder and member of JAZZ IN KYIV BAND, art director of the country's largest festival Leopolis Jazz Fest. Representative of Ukraine in the European Jazz Federation.
Alexey Kogan graduated from a music school in violin, and later from the library faculty of the Kyiv Institute of Culture (in absentia), majoring in "Musical Bibliography". He served in the army (tank troops).
The future radio star's acquaintance with world-class music took place back in 1971. Then the fourteen-year-old boy got to a Kiev concert of the legendary Duke Ellington. As a young man, Alexey led a "double life": during the day he studied and took lessons, and in the evenings he played in restaurants for money. Older musicians jokingly called him "Little". There was no institution in Kyiv where the boy would not perform. In one evening, Alexey Kogan said, he earned more than his father, a candidate of medical sciences, received in a month.
He mainly played the bass guitar, although he studied violin at school. He used the violin only when it was necessary to perform folk melodies. He himself admitted: the violinist's skills made it as easy as shelling seeds to play the bass guitar. Later, he worked in the Central Scientific Library. Kogan also worked part-time, completing tests and coursework for students of a music school. He learned English on his own in order to read the descriptions on the covers of jazz records.
Creative path
Kogan got on the radio in 1986, initially as a freelance journalist. Within five years, he was already conducting broadcasts on his own. He himself noted: at that time, they hired him not so much for him as for his music. When he got a job at Promin, the boss noticed that Alexey's education was not specialized. In response, Kogan asked the manager a rhetorical question: what is more important for the radio - a diploma or a high-quality program? This became the "entrance ticket" for the owner of natural talent and charisma. And popularity and recognition from the listening audience did not take long to come. Kogan's style and erudition appealed to many fans of good music.
Several times the host was reprimanded for "not knowing the political situation". They often called him in for conversations and asked why there was so much American music on the air. Kogan, however, humorously answered counter-questions: why do some of the bosses drive Japanese cars, and not domestic ones?
Since 1991, Alexey Kogan has worked on the radio "Promin" in the program "Music Lover's Hour". Ten years later, the cooperation ended, but the new director Maksym Yakovenko, whom Kogan himself had brought to the radio, returned the host to the team.
Alexey Vadimovich also worked on other radio stations. Among them are “Continent”, Nostalgie, Super Nova, MusicRadio, “Radio Era”. He was the author of programs on the Internet channels “Radio Aristocrats” (Jazz Time) and Old Fashioned Radio (“Kogan’s Playlist”). In total, the host’s creative output includes more than five thousand radio programs. Alexey Kogan also taught at the University of Glier. Many of his students became professional musicians.
Approach to work and creativity
The name of Oleksiy Kogan has become synonymous with the Ukrainian jazz movement. He is known as one of the most profound music experts who knows how to "tell" jazz in the language of the air. The presenter has always emphasized that he likes to work live. However, due to on-air alarms, he has to make recordings in advance.
Oleksiy Vadimovich's approach to work is unchanged: as soon as the program ends, he is already thinking about the next one. For Kogan, radio is a door to the listener. And the reaction of music fans on the other side of the microphone is always unpredictable.
Oleksiy admitted: he never had a vacation. His work completely captivates him from morning to night.
Awards and achievements:
Oleksiy Kogan is a member of the editorial board of the magazine "Jazz Kvadrat" and the International Jazz Journalists Association. Awarded the Order of Merit for Polish Culture (Poland's highest award in the field of culture).
Projects with the participation of Oleksiy Kogan:
- “Jazz for Adults with Oleksiy Kogan”;
- “Jazz under the Stars”;
- “Jazz Stories with Oleksiy Kogan” and others.
The artist is known for his collaboration with such prominent artists and groups as the Andrii Solovyov Jazz Band, Dennis Adu and Yana Viyalov, Andrii Barmalii, Jazz In Kyiv Band and others.
Interesting facts about Alexei Kogan:
- author of over 700 articles in newspapers and magazines in Ukraine, Poland and the USA;
- organizer of the Jazz in Kiev festival in 2011;
- names music and family as his main hobbies;
- treats vinyl records with caution and keeps music on CDs;
- in 2025 he celebrated 39 years of work on the radio.
