DOMAS ALEKSA & NNAJI

(Lithuania – Germany)

Domas Aleksa – bg, compositions

Nnaji – voc

Liutauras Janušaitis – synth, fl, sax

Augustas Baronas – dr, perc

Domas Aleksa, one of the most acclaimed Lithuanian bassists, returns to this year’s Birštonas Jazz festival with an original project. Last year, the bass virtuoso and his long-time stage partners, including Nnaji, a vocalist who has never appeared in Birštonas before, released the album of Aleksa’s compositions TRIPPIN, which is being presented at this performance.

The bassist’s latest album brings together many different music styles, thus the performers invite the audience on a colourful musical journey from soul, hip-hop, rock to jazz.

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.

Nnaji is a soul and R&B vocalist, songwriter and music producer. He was born and raised in Berlin but has been living in Lithuania for some time and has a family here.

He has gained recognition for his performances with the German National Jazz Orchestra and his neo-soul jam sessions in Berlin.  He quickly found associates in Lithuania, and regularly performs in jazz clubs with talented Lithuanian improvisers. 

Nnaji’s vocal seamlessly blends different styles of music, immersing listeners in a pleasant, sensual atmosphere.

Liutauras Janušaitis – see p….

Augustas Baronas is one of Lithuania’s leading jazz drummers, playing music ranging from traditional jazz to R&B and soul. He started performing intensively as a schoolboy, appearing with the big band The Magic Time Orchestra at various festivals in Lithuania, Latvia, Germany and Sweden.

After completing his bachelor’s studies at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague and his master’s studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, he returned to Lithuania with his family. He also teaches.

His stage partners include well-known Lithuanian jazz musicians Kęstutis Vaiginis, Dmitrij Golovanov, Veronika Čičinskaitė-Golovanova, Leonardas Pilkauskas, D. Aleksa, Dominykas Vyšniauskas, and many others. In 2018–2023, he was a member of Dainius Pulauskas’ acoustic groups and toured with them jazz festivals in India, Egypt, Italy, Switzerland and Poland.

Abroad, Baronas often performs with Italian saxophonist Claudio Jr De Rosa’s international jazz quartet. With this ensemble he has played at Nord See Jazz, Umbria and other prestigious European jazz venues.