Popular Latvian composer Raimondas Paulas, 82, showed and saw on the stage of the National Drama Theatre what free and imaginative people are capable of.
“It was fun to remember my youth. I don’t often take part in such big concerts these days, but it’s really good to play something that I like,” said R. Paulas after an impressive performance at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre (LNDT) on Thursday. The maestro was invited to Vilnius by the real estate development company Eika, which planned to celebrate its 25th anniversary and commemorate the centenaries of the independence of the Baltic States. Eika’s managers Robertas and Domas Dargiai like to treat their colleagues, partners and friends to selected jazz. The impressions of their guest jazz vocalist Diana Krall’s concert and Dainius Pulauskas’ ethno project “Jazz Around the World” commissioned by Eika have not yet faded from memory. This time, the businessmen set out to inject jazz accents into the marathon commemorating the centenaries of the Baltic States, which until now has revolved almost exclusively around classical music.
The concert surprised with its ambition
It is difficult to recall such a chic jazz evening as the concert “Sound the Rhythm of the Future. Jazzy Baltic Century Freedom” held at the LNDT the day before yesterday in Lithuania. Music, arrangements, and video projections were created especially for this evening. It brought together the brightest jazz talents of the three Baltic countries.
The Latvian Radio Big Band was accompanied by D. Pulauskas’ group, the Latvian vocal jazz ensemble “Framest”, Estonian jazz prima donna Sofia Rubina, and rising Latvian jazz star Kristina Praulinia. Trumpeter Dominykas Vyšniauskas, who had been working in the Latvian Big Band for some time, improvised a solo. The program was decorated with motifs of Latvian and Lithuanian folk songs, images of Lithuania and Estonia. However, the focus of the evening was R. Pauls’s work and music.
He sang the pearls of his creation “With our century of freedom, brothers and sisters,” – R.Paulas, who appeared on stage, said in Lithuanian. The maestro presented the audience with a series of his works, which he performed with his big band and vocalists. Among them were the longing melody from the music for the film “Long Journey through the Dunes”, the playful “Nostalgia”, the bravura “Jazz Expression” and “Sahara”. Even young people could envy the drive and energy of a musician of solid age. “I wasn’t looking for any of my own songs – I wanted to play jazz like a pianist”, – explained the guest, getting off the stage. The maestro recently admitted that jazz is now closer to him than new pop or dance music.
The audience gave R. Paul a standing ovation, impressed not only by the melodic pearls of his music, but also by his uniquely expressive, even bravura playing manner. “A true artist,” his stage partners repeated. “The most pleasant thing is when people applaud not out of pity, but out of respect for me as a musician. That I can still go on stage and get off it myself after the concert,” joked the maestro.
Took home a medal
When asked if the trip had tired him, the composer assured: “On the contrary – I looked around. I don’t tour often now. However, I have many memories and funny stories associated with Lithuanian musicians. I remember Juozas Tiškus, Benjaminas Gorbulskis, the “Oktava” ensemble, which used to perform in Liepaja. It’s as if I’ve returned to my stormy youth.” The day before yesterday, R. Pauls was awarded the Medal of Honor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre for his long-term strengthening of the identity of the Baltic States and the elevation of jazz and popular music to the level of high culture. According to the Latvian Ambassador to Lithuania Einars Semanis, who attended the ceremony, the award symbolically united the two countries, which are celebrating their centenaries this year. R. Pauls also confirmed his loyalty to jazz, which has accompanied him since childhood. The maestro was pleased that this music is increasingly becoming established in current culture. The ceremony featured an improvisation by Professor Artūras Anusauskas based on the motifs of R. Pauls’s work, and after the official part, the distinguished guest surprised everyone with his virtuosity when he sat down to improvise at the piano. R. Pauls did not stay in Vilnius for long – yesterday he performed at the Dzintari Concert Hall in Jurmala with the Riga Choir.
Jazz also united the three countries
“It is a great merit of R.Paulus that Latvians have strong traditions of vocal jazz, pop music, and such a good big band. We can only dream of this,” said D. Pulauskas, one of the initiators, composers, and participants of the concert “Sound the Rhythm of the Future. Jazzing the Baltic Century of Freedom.”
It was the Latvian Radio Big Band led by R.Paulas that inspired Lithuanians to dedicate an international jazz project to the centenaries of the Baltic States. A similar program of the joint collective to that in Vilnius has already been performed in Riga to commemorate the anniversary in Latvia, and will be performed in Estonia in May. D.Pulauskas is also participating everywhere as a composer and performer. Lithuanian jazz great D.Pulauskas has also been invited to represent Lithuania in the European Big Band project this autumn, for which he will write music with representatives of Latvia and Estonia. The Big Band performance will be broadcast from Riga to the whole of Europe. Joint projects of musicians from the Baltic States are also being performed at the 20th Birštonas Jazz Festival, which began yesterday.
You can find the article at: https://kultura.lrytas.lt/scena/2018/03/24/news/maestro-raimondas-paulas-ispudingame-koncerte-grizo-i-audringa-jaunyste-5391472/