ARVYDAS JOFFĖ PROJECT AFROKAYFFEE
ARVYDAS JOFFĖ PROJECT AFROKAYFFEE
Arvydas Joffė – leader, dr
Alex Shams – perc
Edgaras Sabilo – p
Gabrielė Kazakauskaitė – voc
Vaiva Venslovienė – voc
Valerijus Ramoška – tp
Vytautas Labutis – saxes
Skirmantas Sasnauskas – tb
Artūras Chalikovas – g
Ken Cassie – bg, voc
After a 14-year break, Arvydas Joffė, one of the most talented drummers in Lithuania, is returning to the Birštonas Jazz in a new capacity – he has assembled a large ensemble that will shake the festival stage with African rhythms.
AfroKayffee project was inspired by Ken Cassie, an African student of the leader, who came to study jazz at the Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy from Ghana. The compositions by bassist Cassie form the core of this program.
- Joffė, his student and a group of similar line-up have already delivered one program – they have recently presented African gospels at the Kaunas Philharmonic Hall. Now the teacher and student together with well-known Vilnius and Kaunas jazz performers will dip the audience in African rhythms.
“We are not from the African continent, but the music, the cultural manifestations, the feelings and the inspiration of the nations living there are very close to us. Especially when we dive into the ocean of authentic music with Ken Cassie,” said the drummer about the project team.
Arvydas Joffė is one of the most expressive Lithuanian drummers. He earned recognition at the age sixteen when he was voted the best drummer at the Liepaja Dzintars festival in Latvia.
At the beginning of his professional career (in the 1970s) he played in rock bands and various other formations (Bildukai, Nuogi ant slenksčio and Kadencija), later joined Oktava vocal-instrumental ensemble.
He made his jazz debut while still a student at the Lithuanian State Conservatoire’s Klaipėda Faculty from which he graduated in 1979 and taught there for several years. In Klaipėda he has collaborated with Saulius Šiaučiulis’ Quartet and Pranas Narušis’ Big Band.
Upon return to his native Kaunas, he formed his own Big Band, collaborated with Romualdas Grabštas’ Quartet and Gintautas Abarius’ Trio, played in Kaunas Big Band. In addition, Joffė taught at Balys Dvarionas School of Music in Vilnius, for almost a decade was a member of Vladimir Chekasin’s Quartet.
Joffė has been appearing in solo programs since 1992. His concerts remind a one-man show revealing his inexhaustible imagination and wide range of expression means. Resourcefully combining acoustic and electronic percussion instruments, he develops theatrical stories saturated with unexpected dramatic turns and energetic outbursts.
Since 2003, the drummer has actively performed with Lithuanian Jazz Trio also involving his colleagues Vytautas Labutis and Leonid Shinkarenko. The ensemble toured in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Japan and Russia. The Lithuanian Institute presented Lithuanian Jazz Trio with an award for promulgation of Lithuanian jazz in the world.
Joffė has been a member of the group Jazz Brothers for 20 years; has formed his own ensembles.
He has participated in all Lithuanian and many European jazz festivals with various ensembles, represented Lithuania at the world exhibition EXPO 2005 in Japan, EXPO 2008 in Zaragoza, the International Music Fair MIDEM in Cannes (2005), and the International Book Fair in Turin (2006, 2007). Since 2000, the musician has been teaching at J. Gruodis Conservatoire in Kaunas, and since 2013 at Vytautas Magnus University.
