Events
Ivan Mazuze (NO/MZ) & Raciel Torres (NO/CU)
Award-winning saxophonist Ivan Mazuze is a performer, a composer, an academic and a traveller with Mozambique roots who has found home in Norway. He is inspired by cultural differences and has immersed himself in studying the links that connect tradition to contemporary music.
Pianist Artyom Sarvi, bassist Pēteris Liepiņš and drummer Pauls Pokratnieks will perform at the concert together with the Ivan Mazuze.
VEF JAZZ CLUB | Then and Now: Reimagined
In the concert program “Then and Now: Reimagined” you will have the opportunity to enjoy the music of Krists Saržants album “Then and Now” in never before heard arrangements for the excellent Latvian Radio big band together with singer Evilena Protektore and the composer himself.
This is an unprecedented collaboration that will present Saržants music with new power in unheard and unfelt sounds. Music album has been complimented by such world-renowned artists as jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, saxophonist Felipe Salles, Latvian jazz music label Jersika Records, musicologist Orests Silabriedis and others.
Tallinn 1967 Jazz Festival. Documentary movie screening
Every night between 11 and 14 May 1967 the Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn was filled with 3,000 listeners who had gathered to enjoy the Tallinn ‘67 jazz festival. The festival was the culmination of an initiative launched by composer and jazz enthusiast Uno Naissoo in 1949, which had expanded year by year. That year, more than 25 ensembles from both the Soviet Union and abroad joined the jazz celebration. Due to the exceptionally large number of journalists present and an incident with the American saxophonist Charles Lloyd, who had arrived at the festival with his band, the festival reached the pages of numerous foreign newspapers. For more than half a century, the festival has been talked about time and time again, confirming its legendary status and significance that transcends the boundaries of time and place.
The film by music historian Heli Reimann and Erik Norkroos (Tallinn, Estonia) is based on the clips of the exhibition Jazz Idealism 1967 and focuses on the people who took part in the festival, for whom jazz was a world-view, an ideal and a lifestyle, as well as the basis of their values and self-realisation. The participants’ recollections invite us on an audio-visual journey where, against a historical background, we are called to ask questions about the timeless topics of idealism and reality and the relationship between power and spirit. Inspired by the world-views of the festival participants, which radiate a deep humanity and awareness of the basic values of life, the film offers a new insight that goes beyond the events of the festival. It encourages us to reflect on what it means to be human in our time, when our inner “ecology” – being guided by inner values, awareness and empathy – should become part of the ecosystem of our entire planet, and where operating in a whirlwind of change is testing our ethical decisions.
JVLMA and RDKS Big band and Jere Laukkanen. Special guest Indrikis Veitners
At the concert you’ll hear the compositions and arrangements done by Jere Laukkanen. All of the tunes have their own story. Some of the music is from a project called "Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra" conducted by Jere himself. Special guests - Indrikis Veitners and Dāvis Jurka.
International Jazz Day Latvia 2022. Jam session with Evilena Protektore
Evilena Protektore is a jazz singer from Latvia, graduated from Jazz Department of Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music with a Masters degree and has stayed there as a jazz vocal teacher. Has spent a year studying in Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia (Italy) with prof. Maria Pia de Vito and half a year in Hannover (Germany) with prof. Romy Camerun.
Participated in various festivals and projects: «Jazz in Latvia» compilation album, «Pori Jazz» (Finland), «Limassol Jazz» (Cyprus); and contests: «Riga Jazz Stage» (Latvia), «Nomme Jazz» (Estonia) and got a Grand Prix award at «JazzVoices 2014» (Lithuania). In 2016 received a Nic Gotham prize for the contribution to jazz music and jazz life in Latvia.
Evilena Protektore - voice
Artjoms Sarvi - piano
Pēteris Liepiņš - double bass
Harijs Gūtmanis - drum
Digital Jazz Festival 2022
On the 30th of April four Latvian bands will perform on stage of Digital Art House in scope of International Jazz Day Latvia celebration:
TEN KA (modular jazz, electronic) means "fire of the sky" from Japanese. It is the other side of Deniss Pashkevich - the modular synthesizer world. He is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who joins jazz and modern rhythmical music through TEN KA.
Funcoolio (instrumental jazz/fusion) - performs original instrumental compositions in the style of "Baltic Fusion". On November 2021, band release second studio album entitled "VOL.2", released at Funcoolio Records.
Miķelis Dzenuška and “Uzvaras Bulvāris” are funk/fusion band from Riga. The band was formed on the initiative of Miķelis Dzenuška, uniting 8 friends and Music Academy students in 2021 to strive for new sound combinations and a wider sound.
The Coco'nuts (funk/jazz/blues) combining funk, blues, rock, swing, and indie tunes together in a mind-blowing musical jungle. Band performed in many local and international concert venues, festivals, have toured through France, Italy, and Austria, and represented Latvia in an International Music Festival in China.
DJ Mareks Ameriks (Vinyl’s), founder of Jersika Records, an independent jazz and improvised music record label. Most of recordings on Jersika Records are made completely analogue – recorded reel-to-reel to tape and cut directly to lacquer.
We look forward to meet you at the most striking jazz event in this spring!
Jazz Day at the Latvian Radio 3 "Klasika"
The Latvian Radio 3 "Klasika" will also celebrate the International Jazz Day Latvia on April 30th, offering both new Latvian concert recordings and great world premieres!
At 11:05 the listeners will hear some compositions from the new double album "Jazz in Latvia 2022", followed by the "VEF Jazz Club | Then and Now: Reimagined" concert recording from VEF Culture House. During the day we'll listen to some earlier Latvian jazz musician recordings.
The program at 15.00 will be continued by the Orchestra "Riga" big band concert "Šodien uzspīdēs saule" (The sun will shine today), Jazz Day program will be continued by the "Meksikas leksika" radio show hosted by the jazz drummer, and the celebration will end with George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess", recorded at the New York Metropole Opera in 2021.
Atmospheres. Spring | Pablo Held (Germany)
Pianist and composer Pablo Held is an outstanding improviser whose talent is known far beyond Germany. He has collaborated with jazz greats such as John Scofield and Chriss Potter. Mostly he plays in his trio and rarely in solo programs, but this will be one of those rare occasions. Held believes that the piano as a solo instrument has a special charm. Piano is neutral enough and at the same time rich in color tones.
In piano solo programs, Pablo Held acts as a narrator - he paints the images of his dreams and presents versions of his favorite musical compositions combined with his own expression of jazz. Held's music is intense and deeply personal. Everything he hears is assimilated and transformed in his own musical language.
Concert of Aija Vītoliņa and Aivars Hermanis
The concert of a charming singer Aija Vītoliņa and legendary guitarist Aivars Hermanis will be a meeting in music, enjoying emotional and heartfelt melodies from musicians' repertoire. The concert is organized by "Bilžu birojs" together with Mazmežotnes manor.
During the concert an owner of a velvety voice Aija Vītoliņa will perform the songs in different languages and styles. The listeners will have an option to enjoy less known, although touching flamenco ballads from the world-known ladino style performer Jasmin Levi repertoire, as well as popular Latvian author compositions. The listeners will also hear instrumental compositions from Aivars Hermanis' solo albums, as well as popular melodies by Raimonds Pauls, Uldis Marhilēvičs, Uldis Stabulnieks, John Lennon, Chick Corea, Astor Piazzolla and the others.