VILNIUS - Observing Lithuania's obsession with basketball, one might think the sport was a national religion. And if such empirical conclusions were applied to jazz, it would surely come in as the country's second faith.
This month, jazz will find its home-away-from-home in Kaunas, the Baltic state's second-largest city. Internationally recognized as the best jazz festival in Eastern Europe, Kaunas Jazz kicks off on April 21 to groove for 10 consecutive days.
The annual jazz fest dates back to 1991, when the first festival was held soon after Lithuania's breakaway from the Soviet regime. Given the period's transitional circumstances and hostile blockade, the start was modest but ambitious in spirit. Shortly after, the festival gained fame for its openness and variety in styles and has become a European mecca for jazz lovers and promoters.
The usual trend in the Baltics is for worldwide music stars to bypass Lithuania when on tour, stopping in Riga or Tallinn instead. Meanwhile, we Lithuanians are forced to settle for second-rate stars of decades past. If an in-coming band doesn't ring a bell, just dig through your parents' vinyl collection - there's a good chance you'll find at least one of their records.
There is, however, one music genre that our dear Latvian and Estonian neighbors can't beat: jazz. And the Kaunas festival consistently attracts the most admired jazz stars from across the world. This year Kaunas will host a dozen prominent international musicians, as well as a few-dozen local talents.
An absolute must-hear is Sweden's Nils Landgren, whose name today appears among the top ranking European jazz trombonists. A world-class soloist that exudes with heart and soul, Landgren has been involved in a variety of music styles and projects. These include jazz, rock, soul, hip-hop, big band's, and studio sessions. By his own estimation, Nils claims to have worked on at least 500 albums. Most of these projects were, obviously, collaborations with Swedish artists, but Nils also played with Wyclef Jean on his first solo album.
Another not-to-be-missed appearance is tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, widely regarded as one of the young lions of jazz. The Grammy-nominated saxophonist has been setting the music world ablaze with his red-hot sound since first emerging as a youthful star in the early 1990s. Redman earned the Rolling Stone's Jazz Artist of the Year for two consecutive years, and is considered to be one of the most important musicians to break into the jazz scene in recent memory.
Also, the soulful rhythms of Coco Mbassi, a singer and songwriter from
Cameroon in West Africa who now lives in Paris, must to be heard. Mbassi's musical background started at an early age when, growing up in Cameroon, she took part in child music groups, singing hit songs a cappella before the film began in the local cinema. By age seven, she entered a music competition in Younde, the Cameroonian capital, and won first prize.
Mbassi is part of the international music scene based in the French capital, where a great number of other African performers have flourished. And like many of her Cameroonian musical compatriots, she brings a wonderfully global approach to her music. The artist's songs in the Duala language are a fascinating combination of African style a cappella vocals, Brazilian bossa nova, and something approaching so-called "smooth jazz."
And if that description alone gets your foot tapping, the festival itself will hold an entirely different octave for you.
