Lithuania and jazz
2006-12-06 13:38
Jazz is one of the first associations (alongside theatre, of course) that are evoked by the phrase “Lithuanian cultural life”. Lithuania and His Majesty Jazz are inseparable like yin and yang. Over the whole Soviet period of the Lithuanian history, our country managed to deserve and retain the status of Jazz republic number one in the whole of the Soviet Union. After independence was proclaimed in 1991, Lithuanian distinctive jazz school and excellent jazz festivals became famous all over the world.
Vilnius Jazz Festival
Vilnius Jazz is known as the largest in Eastern Europe jazz music forum focusing on the so-called avant gard Jazz (also referred to as new Jazz). It has earned a reputation of the music event celebrating novelty, creativity and originality, as well as promoting an experimental approach to music. Balancing between jazz and ethnic, rock and industrial music, it has developed its unique character as an extremely democratic jazz festival
Attracting an audience of around 7000 each year, the festival usually offers a 3-4 day programme of concerts, workshops and jam sessions showcasing up to 10 different groups. 12-15 October 2006 saw the 19th edition of the Vilnius Jazz Festival.
Being the oldest annual Jazz festival in Lithuania, Vilnius Jazz have seen such notable performers and bands as The Zawinul Syndicate (USA), Sonny Simmons-Oliver Lake Quartet (USA), Courtney Pine Group (UK), Billy Cobham Band (USA), Arthur Blythe Quartet (USA), Steve Lacy (USA), Leroy Jenkins (USA), Viacheslav Ganelin (Israel), Otomo Yoshihide (Japan), Fred Frith (UK), Carlos Ward Quartet (USA), Defunkt (USA), Django Bates (UK), Cinematic Orchestra (UK), Iva Bittová (Czech Republic), Myra Melford Quartet (USA), Cuong Vu Trio (USA), Willem Breuker Kollektief (NL), Marc Ducret Trio (FR) and many others.
In 2005, the Vilnius Jazz Festival was included into the Europe Jazz Network.
Kaunas Jazz Festival
Kaunas Jazz is another large annual jazz festival in Lithuania. Having started soon after independence, it has been gaining its popularity at an amazing rate. Now it features a small series in fall and another series just before Christmas.
Artists from over 20 countries have participated in the festival, including John Scofield, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, Elvin Jones, Jan Garbarek, Charles Lloyd, Bobo Stenson, Nils Landgren, Courtney Pine, Marc Copland, John Abercrombie, Palle Mikkelborg, Nils Petter Molvaer, David Sanborn, Mike Stern, Trilok Gurtu, Bobby Previte, Greg Osby, and Chico Freeman.
The International Kaunas Jazz Festival, representing a wide spectrum of modern jazz, has a number of properties that are typically associated with this festival. First, the festival offers jazz music combined with bell ringing, which despite being a sheer experiment at first, has proven itself to be one of the most fascinating parts of the festival. The Kaunas Jazz Festival is also one of the best places in Europe to listen to sacral jazz. This unique tradition was started in 1993, when Petras Vyšniauskas and Tomas Kutavučius organized a jazz performance in the Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel. Besides, in 2001, Kaunas Synagogue joined the tradition of sacral jazz and opened its doors to the concerts representing the Jewish theme in jazz. In 2003, Ora Sittner, a famous Israel singer, gave a marvellous concert in the Kaunas synagogue.
Another typical feature of the Kaunass Jazz festival is night club sessions. Jazz concerts are organized in a number of popular Kaunas clubs, where for the whole week jazz lovers can enjoy jazz music blended with dance rhythms. According to the organizers of such club jazz sessions, this is an attempt to revive jazz as dance music, as it once was.
Klaipeda Castle Jazz Festival
Klaipeda, the third largest city of Lithuania, also boasts a jazz festival, held on the first week of June.
Having started in 1993, The Klaipeda Jazz Festival has been receiving more and more attention over the recent decade. For all these years the performances have been offered free of charge and they will continue a such in the future. The festival feature performances of such figures as Toots Thielemans, Billy Cobham, Maynard Ferguson, Jean Jacques Milteau, Mike Mainieri, Jim Beard, Victor Bailey, Chico & The Gypsies (former "Gypsy Kings"), "Dutch Swing College Band", and other jazz stars.
Birstonas Jazz Festival
Being the oldest in Lithuania, Birstonas Jazz Festival has been organized for over 20 years. It is the Birstonas Jazz Festival that prompted Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda to start their own jazz forums. Concentrating mainly on the Lithuanian jazz music, Birstonas Jazz Festival gives an excellent overview of the current jazz trends in Litrhuania. It is held every two years during the last weekend in March. During that time over 20 bands are presented.
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Chick Corea. A photo by Mikhail Rashkovsky