Remember the awe of opening the record cabinet and putting on a vinyl Louis Armstrong or Jascha Heifetz? That's how I feel every time I open the CD, see and hear the reel-to-reel Tascam; no other technology can replace the soul of this analog, live sound. Imagine you're in Oksana's basement, looking at the painting on the front of this CD, listening to her stories...and you will fall in love as I did. Oksana's performance style, like Louis' or Jascha's, is raw, present, and tells no lies. She hits an incredible variety of the Ukrainian repertoire; folk-tunes such as the teasing "Curly-Haired Katherine" conjure images of weddings in barnyards, where the Kolomyika dance has to stop so cows can sleep; on the other end, "Red Poppies" and arrangements by Hryhory Kytasty share the pride of modern bandura choirs, plucking together in golden concert halls. Oksana's CD travels between these two worlds, and it is a worthwhile journey. Thank you for sharing it with me.