Lithuanian Jazz History

Lithuanian jazz: texts, photographs, music recordings (1920–1990)

As an expression of changing times and progress, jazz in 20th-century Europe developed in states moving along a democratic path, as the first Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940) was; music of this genre, associated with entertainment, was heard in the programmes of cafés and restaurants in the temporary capital, Kaunas.

In the Soviet period, after the war, jazz was regarded as a phenomenon alien and unacceptable to Soviet ideology. Nevertheless, in the years of the political thaw, orchestras and big bands officially formed that could perform complex swing-era works by foreign authors. The Iron Curtain could not isolate Lithuania from the world – jazz became an expression of freedom and resistance.

In 1961 a conference and a concert devoted to jazz were held at the Lithuanian State Conservatoire (LMTA), the Vilnius Jazz Club existed in 1963–1965, and the first festival, “Jaunystė’68”, was held in the energy workers’ town of Elektrėnai. In 1971 the Viačeslav Ganelin Trio, which became the leader of Lithuanian jazz and won international recognition, began to perform. After long years of stagnation, a jazz music section was founded in Vilnius in 1977, and in 1980 the Birštonas festival, which became a tradition and remained the most important flagbearer of this genre until the 1990s, was held; all the most prominent Lithuanian jazz musicians appeared on its stage.

R. Skudienė