Whoever loves jazz today… – A portrait of the 2027 jazzahead! partner region: the Baltic States

Is it possible to tell a single story spanning three countries and three differing cultural domains? No, it isn’t. There are, however stories in the Baltic States which have a relevance going far beyond the countries’ borders.

Take the example of the Karnofskys. This family from southern Lithuania had emigrated to New Orleans. In 1907, they started looking after a six-year-old boy who was growing up with his grandmother, and they may well have given the little boy his nickname ‘Satchelmouth’, later shortened to ‘Satchmo’ – Louis Armstrong. The future global star learnt Yiddish songs and was reportedly even given five dollars by his foster family, enabling him to buy his first cornet.

 And what was it that he learnt from these compassionate people from Lithuania? ‘Determination’, as Armstrong wrote later in his autobiography.
Even more moving is the story of the Baltic Way. On 23 August 1989, over two million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians formed a human chain stretching almost 700 kilometres, across the three former Soviet republics. It was a peaceful protest for independence, and it coincided with the ‘Singing Revolution’, during which the banned national anthems of the three countries could once again be sung in public.

Today, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are members of the EU, and the euro is the currency in all three states. More than six million people live in an area roughly half the size of Germany. Jazz can be heard everywhere here, and not least at festivals.

The region’s largest festival is Jazzkaar in Tallinn (Estonia), which has been running since 1990. Rīgas Ritmi has been held in the Latvian capital since 2001. In Lithuania, there are several major jazz festivals, including the biennial Birštonas Jazz, founded in 1980 at the height of the Cold War.

A Brief History of Jazz in the Baltic States

The roots of jazz in the Baltic States date back to the summer of 1918. At that time, pupils at a German-speaking school in Tallinn formed a modern dance band, which would later become Estonia’s first professional jazz orchestra.

The term ‘jaz’ first appeared in October 1918 in the Latvian newspaper Libausche Zeitung. At the time, according to historian Indriķis Veitners, jazz was regarded as ‘salon music’, which the public often associated with ‘noise, chaos and indecent behaviour’.

Violinist Danielius Pomerancas, also known as Daniel Pomerantz, originally from Kaunas in Lithuania, studied at the Berlin Conservatory until 1926. Later, the bandleader and his orchestra recorded no fewer than eleven shellac records for Columbia Records in London.

During the Soviet occupation from 1945 onwards, jazz was not banned but was viewed with suspicion; Western records had to be smuggled in. Nonetheless, Tallinn Jazz Festival, established in 1959, grew in popularity; in 1967, musicians from the other Baltic countries also performed there, and the Charles Lloyd Quartet (with Keith Jarrett on piano) headlined the event. Media outlets such as the New York Times wrote about the popularity of jazz behind the Iron Curtain. Yet the festival’s heyday was short-lived. In the countries of the Soviet Union, the authorities did their best to devalue it by promoting the saying that “Whoever loves jazz today will sell their homeland tomorrow”.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Ganelin Trio, led by the Lithuanian pianist Vyacheslav ‘Slava’ Ganelin was ‘arguably the world’s greatest free jazz ensemble’. The trio toured internationally and was compared to the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This time, a band’s recordings traveled from East to West.

The Baltics have arrived

The Baltic scene ceased to be an underground movement long ago. Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu records albums for ECM, while Estonian saxophonist Maria Faust, now based in Denmark, has worldwide appeal with her ambitious projects such as “Mass of Mary”.

In Latvia, guitarist Matīss Čudars made history in 2023 when his trio received the Latvian Grand Music Award, usually reserved for classical productions. Ella Zirina, a Latvian born in 1997, is currently one of the most sought-after guitarists in the whole of Europe.

Jievaras Jasinskis, a trombonist and director of various big bands, is part of a young, genre-defying generation in Lithuania. Another key musician is the internationally award-winning saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas – and percussionist Vladimir Tarasoff from the Ganelin Trio continues to be active.

Latvian journalist Anete Ašmane-Vilsone has written a telling remark about her compatriots, but her idea defines something significant which is true to all three countries: ”This the best thing that characterises our jazz today – the ability to exist and not be afraid. We have finally arrived.”

The showcase application period for jazzahead! 2027 ends on 30 September.

jazzahead! Director Sybille Kornitschky, Artistic Advisor Götz Bühler and representatives of the partner region are available for interviews.

Press accreditation is open online at: https://jazzahead.de/press/#accreditation

All photos can be found in our digital press kit. It also includes the latest press information, additional photos, logos and a social media kit:

ja!27_Press_kit
Password: ja!27_Press_kit

You can download images from the following links:
Photo 1: Vaiko Eplik ja Kristjan Randalu © Kaupo Kikkas
Photo 2: Estonia – Charles Lloyd Quartet 1967 © Estonian National Museum
Photo 3: Latvia – Matiss Cudars © Eriks Radzelis
Photo 4: Lithuania – Ganelin Trio

Copyright press photos:
Press photos may only be used for editorial purposes in connection with M3B GmbH events. The copyrights are held by M3B GmbH/photographer. Utilisation and exploitation rights are held by M3B GmbH. Press photos that are used for editorial purposes must be labelled with the corresponding source. Printing and publication of the press photos is free of charge. We ask print media for a specimen copy and electronic media (Internet) for a brief notification. Commercial use of the press photos requires prior written authorisation.

More information:
MESSE BREMEN · M3B GmbH
Jan Paersch | T +49 173 3250836
press@jazzahead.de
Web: jazzahead.de

www.messe-bremen.de