Sound

In brief: Kaunas Jazz festival is perhaps the only festival that can be felt by all sympathetic to this (or not necessarily) genre of music. The festival features many different kinds of music and if some people start questioning whether it is jazz or not really, the answer according to Bobby McFerrin (the star of the 21st Kaunas Jazz) would be only one - "Don't worry." Let's relax and look for the jazz inside us.

Let's take the performance of Jazzu at the Great Hall of Vytautas Magnus University. Was it jazz or not really? A graceful Jazzu's leg emerging from her dress was truly jazz. And the Freddie Mercury-crazy Norwegian Jarle Bernhoft at the Combo club? During the concert something has happened to his electric guitar and what? He added new text to his song, "My guitar is broken."

After the concert it seemed that he will have been the best one, however he was only good in comparison to the 79-year old German Klaus Doldinger, who was something you have been waiting for the whole year and have almost forgotten that you waited and secretly hoped, or more precisely longed for. Without a doubt Klaus Doldinger’s Passport was a concert of the decade that opened many transcendental doors; it is power, energy and new experience.

But let's go back a bit to the beginning. As usual - the ceremony, the key, flowers and shiny shoes of important people on the polished floor of the Town Hall. All good, traditional and then behold - there comes a young jazz vocalist Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė and piano player Domas Žeromskis. Everyone is pleasantly surprised, because instead of typical balanced jazz they receive a great concert from a talented vocalist.

That same evening Stacey Kent from the US performed at Raudondvaris manor Arts’ Incubator. Romantic, melodic, simple and sincere - perfect fit for the beginning of the festival. Many people were buying the artists' CD's, because it is simply pleasant to listen to her music at home.

What else should be mentioned from the very good concerts? Of course Mindaugas Juodis' painting exhibition Deep in Jazz. That evening, the ALM gallery contained more jazz than Žalgiris Arena, where the famous sextet Take 6 (USA) were giving a concert. Americans had planned and rehearsed everything, even the jokes about Facebook. In M. Juodis’ exhibition (by the way, in addition to painting and jewelry making, M. Juodis is a great musician, and he proved it by playing that evening), on the other hand, everything was spontaneous, creative and colorful.

Rėjus Čemolonskas' photos