MODAL JAZZ ENSEMBLE

(Latvia)

Madars Kalninš – keyb

Indrikis Veitners – ts, cl

Lauris Amantovs – tb

Andris Grunte – db

Artis Orubs – dr

Santa Šillere – voc

The group brings together Latvian jazz virtuosos from different generations and backgrounds, who express themselves in various jazz genres. This project is their tribute to the modal jazz that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, most prominent representatives of which were Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Woody Shaw, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea and Bobby Hutcherson.

Modal jazz is based on modes – artificially created sequences of tones. As the harmony of jazz became more complex, the above-mentioned composers simplified it by relying on just one or two chords and emphasising rhythm, timbre and, in particular, the melodic nature of improvisation. The modal technique was used by many representatives of modern jazz, especially by free jazz musicians.

Madars Kalninš graduated in jazz piano from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. At the beginning of his career he joined the Latvian Radio Big Band, started playing in the bands of Raimonds Raubiško and Gunārs Rozenbergs, and toured with them in Germany, Finland, Sweden, the USA, and the United Kingdom.

Madars has performed with many celebrities, including Frank Foster, Billie Harper, Janet Lawson, Norma Winston, Stanley Jordan, Brian Melvin, Rio Kawasaki and Karlheinz Miklin.

Today, his main band is Denis Pashkevich’s Riga Groove Electro, with which the keyboardist performed at the Birštonas Jazz festival in 2008. With this band Kalninš often tours in Europe. His programmes include guest soloists such as Karl Martin Almquist, Jukka Eskola, Erling Wicklund, Sebastian Studnitzky and other international artists.

Indrikis Veitners has also been to Birštonas Jazz festival before: in 2016, with the student group from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music he participated in Vladimir Chekasin and the University of Applied Sciences’ project Ethnic Process, inspired by Latvian folk songs.

The virtuoso saxophonist and clarinettist is the head of the Jazz Department at the Latvian Academy of Music, a jazz pedagogue and historian, and an active participant in Latvian jazz life. He has collaborated with many of Latvia’s jazz masters, including Raubiško, Māris Briežkalns, Uldis Marhilēvičs, Raimonds Macats, Denis Pashkevich, is a member of the ethno-jazz group Patina, participates in the programmes of the Mirage Jazz Orchestra, and leads his own projects.

Lauris Amantovs is one of the brightest jazz talents of Latvia’s younger generation, a winner of numerous competitions. He studied at Klaipėda University’s Jazz Department, gained experience in the masterclasses of Peter Herbolzheimer and Jiggs Wigham.

The trombonist is the inspiration and creator of the West Coast Band, Riga Cool Quintet, Mirage Jazz Orchestra, Mirage Octet and leads his own jazz quartet.

Double bassist Andris Grunte collaborates not only with jazz musicians, but also with representatives of academic, world and ethno-music. He is a member of the bands of Latvian jazz coryphée M. Briežkalns, performs with Riga Groove Electro, Tallinn Riga Jazz Quartet, has collaborated with the Latvian Radio Chamber Singers, Kamēr Youth Choir and other ensembles, and has participated in international projects.

Artis Orubs is one of Latvia’s most active and resourceful drummers and percussionists, and a star of the Latvian Radio Big Band. He collaborates with various bands, performs solo, and has recorded more than 100 albums in Latvia and abroad.

He has studied at the conservatories of Amsterdam and Utrecht, and currently teaches at the Jazz Department of the Latvian Academy of Music.

Santa Šillere is a distinctive young jazz vocalist and composer. Born into a musical family, she started singing and playing the piano at an early age. Later she graduated from the Jelgava Music College with a degree in choral conducting. At the age of 16, Santa started performing with the Jelgava Big Band and became interested in jazz. 

She studied jazz vocals at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and, as part of the Erasmus + exchange programme at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. She also attended masterclasses led by a number of jazz masters, including Lisa Popeil, Lenora Helm-Hammond, Helle Henning, Peter Hertman and Lorenz Kellhuber.