DAINIUS PULAUSKAS GROUP (DPG)

(Lithuania)

programmes, participated in the projects of many Lithuanian jazz masters, appeared at all jazz festivals in Lithuania, and toured in many European countries. 

Recently, he has been devoting a lot of time to the projects of Vilnius JJAZZ Ensemble. His saxophone is featured on its albums American Stories and Deadly Dance. He also participated in the recording of Giedrius Nakas’ albums The Dream I Forgot and Burtai (Spells), as well as Domas Aleksa’s album Trippin.

In addition, the saxophonist collaborates with pop and academic musicians. He has performed with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra conducted by Modestas Pitrėnas, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Konstantin Orbelian and Modestas Barkauskas. On the pop music scene, he frequently partners Saulės Kliošas.

Domas Aleksa is one of the best bass guitar players in Lithuania, a composer, producer and initiator of international projects. His instrument can be heard not only in the concerts and recordings of most famous Lithuanian jazz ensembles, but also in pop and electronic music groups.

Domas studied cello from the age of six at a music school, and at the age of 12 he started playing the bass guitar, which he also studied at the University of Applied Sciences in Vilnius.

He formed his first band at 15. Initially, the bassist was mainly active on the club music scene, gaining fame as a member of Brassbastardz, Skamp, Guerila Jazz.lt, A.I.R. and Goovy Taxi. In 2004, he formed his own group D’Orange and released two personal albums with it.

In 2012, the bassist joined Dainius Pulauskas Group and performed with it at many prestigious international jazz festivals, including London, Ottawa, Tokyo, and the most important festivals in Africa, China, India and South Korea. Domas has recorded more than 40 albums of various music styles, including four solo albums.

The musician is also involved in teaching at the Bass School in Vilnius, which he founded, and which has educated hundreds of students over the past decade.

Domantas Razmus, one of Lithuania’s most active and sought-after jazz and improvised music drummers, percussionist and composer, began his professional career at the age of 18, when he won an audition for the Travelling Youth Orchestra, with which he played in France and the Baltic States.

The drummer earned a master’s degree in Contemporary Music and Improvisation from the LAMT, as part of the Erasmus exchange program studied at the Prince Claus Conservatory in the Netherlands. He has been performing extensively since 2012, taking part in open jazz sessions and experimental music projects. Apart from freelancing he is currently preoccupied with teaching.

Razmus is a member of Castor Stetson, Honkin’ Dudes, Laivo Troupe, Vilnius JJAZZ Ensemble and Veronica Chichi Quartet. Various projects have brought him on stage with many Lithuanian jazz and improvised music greats, including Liudas Mockūnas, Arnas Mikalkėnas, Kęstutis Vaiginis, Liutauras Janušaitis, Klaudijus Štuopinis, Jievaras Jasinskis, Dmitrij Golovanov and Vytis Nivinskas.

Domantas has appeared at all major jazz festivals in Lithuania, as well as contemporary music festivals in Raseiniai, Druskomanija and Jauna muzika.

With different ensembles (R.A.D.D., TDT, D.Jurevičius Group), the drummer has won the Grand Prix of Vilnius Jazz Young Power three times (2013, 2016 and 2018). In 2017, he was awarded first prize in the Tamsta Drumday competition.

One of the most creative and prolific Lithuanian jazz musicians, Arkadij Gotesman is not only a percussionist and composer, but also a poet, theatre director, pedagogue, producer, the Spiritus Movens of the Vilnius Klezmer Orchestra and the artistic director of two music festivals.

He composes, records and performs music for theatre, writes scenarios for musical performances and installations, organises projects with dancers, writers, actors and visual artists, and produces original performances.

Arkadij has a gift to discover new jazz venues on the periphery and enrich his projects with the participation of the world’s jazz luminaries. He has improvised with a number of coryphées from various musical backgrounds, including Roland Dahinden, Vladimir Volkov, Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky, Arkady Shilkloper, Julian Joseph, John Zorn, Jack Siron, Frank London, Anthony Coleman, Charles Gayle, Tim Daisy, Joey Baron, Barry Guy, Dominic Duval, Dave Douglas, Albert Beger, Martin Küchen, Mark Tokar, Warren Smith, Andrew Lamb. His regular stage partners in Lithuania include Vyacheslav Ganelin, Petras Vyšniauskas and Vladimir Tarasov.

Arkadij is one of the enthusiasts of silent movies, as a taper with various international musicians he promulgates the genre in Lithuania.

The percussionist plays not only jazz, but also contemporary academic music. He has performed world premieres of works by Osvaldas Balakauskas, Anatolijus Šenderovas, Zita Bružaitė and Šarūnas Nakas among others. Moreover, he is the organiser of the Klezmer Music Festival, the artistic director of Šeduva Percussion Festival and the founder of Theatrum solius quadri. He is an associate professor at the Jazz Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

In 2018, Gotesman was honoured with Birštonas Jazz International Festival Grand Prix, and in 2015 – was presented with Vilnius Jazz Award for contributions to Lithuanian jazz.