The first decades of the 20th century
By Rūta Skudienė
In the first decades of the 20th century, jazz music was associated with entertainment, while jazz harmony and the melodies of new dances, musicals and movies adorned with rhythms were called jazz.
The genre developed in the emerging democratic countries in Europe as an expression of the changing times, and the first Republic of Lithuania in the interwar period was among them. The emergence of entertainment culture was closely related to the tendencies of radical modernisation in music, the fine arts, literature and architecture. Fashion and lifestyles were changing. The expansion of the Western entertainment industry strongly influenced the consciousness of the citizens of the young Lithuanian state, through radio, music recordings and film production. Technological progress, new records in speed and distance, and openness to the world and the developing urban infrastructure, helped to strengthen radical innovations. The rapid assimilation of progress and the perception and practical application of new musical expression took on clear forms, and became available to people from various social strata and backgrounds. The culture of leisure and artistic taste changed. The first decades of the last century were full of important changes for Lithuania: they were years of gaining, consolidating and losing independence. In the 1920s and 1930s, the country's economy expanded: industry and trade developed, and urban culture gradually took shape.
Kaunas, the temporary capital, changed beyond recognition: the headquarters of trading companies, tall modernist-style buildings, banks, theatres, cinemas, elegant restaurants and cafes, and houses appeared one after the other.1
The urban population increased significantly, many refugees from the First World War returning from Russia settled in the cities, and the ethnic composition of the population changed with the increasing number of Lithuanians. The social structure also changed: industrialists, government officials and army officers appeared, an intelligentsia formed, and cultural centres appeared.2 In 1922, the Vytautas the Great University was founded. In 1933, Kaunas Conservatoire opened. In the 1920s, the population of Kaunas came to about 110,000 people,3 and in the 1930s it was rightly called the cradle of Lithuanian jazz, with the first small bands in the city’s modern restaurants and cafes, consisting of local artists and newcomers, mostly Litvak musicians with an academic musical education who were far-sighted enough not to set off serious and entertaining genres. The composition of small stage bands corresponded to the composition of the European salon or dance bands of that time. They consisted of string instruments, small groups of woodwind and brass wind instruments, accordions, piano and percussion. Some instruments (saxophone, accordion, banjo, vibraphone, percussion) were new to Lithuanian performers, and they had to master them. On 19 March 1931, the newspaper Lietuvos aidas wrote: “The management of the Metropolis restaurant announces ... that a vibraphone was purchased, the only one in the whole Baltic States, and was installed in the restaurant.”4 Interest in the new expression of the entertainment world was also stimulated by economic factors: performing in restaurants and participation in recording sessions5 was an additional, well-paid source of income.
Lietuvos aidas, 19 April 1931 , Nr. 63
Entertainment spaces
Popular music in Lithuania in the interwar period was performed only on platforms called the small stage, in restaurants, cafes and cinemas. This term took root.
Modern city life in Kaunas grew over time. The more affluent section of the population liked upscale restaurants in the city centre on Laisvės Avenue, and spent their free time in cinemas and cafes.6
The most popular restaurant was the Metropolis. It was visited by state officials and foreign diplomats. Carnivals and press balls were held in the restaurant.7 The Versalis was considered the most modern restaurant with a dance floor in Lithuania.8 The Pale-Ale was a meeting place for youth.9 Maksas Konradas’ cafe was a popular venue for poets, artists, actors, opera soloists, architects and writers.10 The Monika, Aldona, Automatas, Centralinis, Božegraika, Lozana, Rambynas, Trys milžinai (Three Giants) and many other restaurants and cafes were also very popular. The stages of the more luxurious restaurants had a modern design and equipment.
In 1927, a periodical mentioned a restaurant-cum-cabaret called Skala,11 whose interior was designed by the famous Lithuanian artist Liudas Truikys. After its renovation in 1939, the Versalis had a revolving dance floor, the only one of its kind in Lithuania. There were platforms for the orchestra and tables12 on both sides of it. The Monika cafe and the Forum, Daina,13 Odeon and Metropolitan cinemas14 were known for their unusual interior design.
Versalis Restaurant, cocktail menu, 1930s 
Hall of Versalis Restaurant,1939
Guest artists
At the beginning of the 1920s, artists from Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Budapest, Berlin, Paris and other European cities, and even from the United States, influenced by political change, moved to independent Lithuania. At the beginning of the 1920s, several families of Jewish musicians, the Hofmeklers, the Stupels and the Banks, arrived in Kaunas from Vilnius, which was occupied by Poland.
Lietuvos aidas, 19 June 1931, Nr.135 The musical programmes of the small stage were strongly influenced by Russian, Roma, Jewish, Romanian and German performers, and by music from other countries.15 The small stage was “protected” from multicultural chaos by the Kaunas County and City chief of police, who issued an order that some of the music for the stage should be written by Lithuanians and sung in Lithuanian. This part of the repertoire was ingenuously called the “police numbers”.16 The words of foreign songs were also translated into Lithuanian.17 It became fashionable to give new dances Lithuanian women’s names (the tango was called “Regina” or “Alytė”, the foxtrot was “Onytė”, etc).
Entertainment flourished in Lithuania during the interwar period, restaurants were full during “music sessions”, generating good income for the owners of these establishments.18
Restaurants usually had their own bands. Many of the musicians also played with the orchestra of the State Theatre which was established in 1920. The management of the theatre was critical of these additional activities by the musicians, but could not stop them.19
Radio broadcasts and music recordings
In 1925, the French company Société Française Radio-Electrique built a radio station in Kaunas, and Kaunas Radio started broadcasting a year later .
Columbia record cover, the 1930s At weekends, Kaunas Radio broadcast performances by small stage artists from the Metropolis20 and Trys Milžinai restaurants, the Konradas and Monika21 cafes, and the Metropolitan Cinema House.22 In 1924, Odeon records, and from 1931 also Columbia Records, having brought equipment to Kaunas, started recording local popular music performers, and invited them to recording sessions in their studios in Copenhagen, London and Berlin.
7 meno dienos, 19 December 1931 The music recorded was popular in Lithuania, and the records sold well, although they were expensive. Records were sold by representatives of Odeon, His Master's Voice and Columbia, and by the Lithuanian Music Centre and the C. Schütze Music House. Gramophones and radio receivers23 were sold at bookshops and special stores.
For some time, recordings were made in Kaunas in the hall of the Jewish Hospital,24 but in order to improve the quality, Lithuanian singers, conductors and groups of musicians went to recording sessions in studios in London, Berlin, Copenhagen and Riga. There was a shortage of musicians in Lithuania who were able to perform modern-day entertainment music. The record labels included the Columbia Dance and George Scott Wood orchestras, and other ensembles that accompanied Lithuanian soloists in making recordings for the local market.25
Hits and new dances were recorded, the foxtrot, tango, Charleston, quickstep, the slow waltz, with refrains sung by a Lithuanian soloist, and melodies from musicals and films.26 A small number of works by Lithuanians, such as Stasys Gailevičius, Leonardas Lechavičius, N. Naikauskas, Kajetonas Leipus, Stepas Graužinis, Pranas Juodka, Vladas Sipavičius, Jurgis Karnavičius, the Hofmekler brothers and Josif Bank, were also released on shellac records.
In the 1930s, Lithuanian performers were recorded by the Homocord label in Berlin, which had agents in Kaunas. The records carry the names of Josif Stupel and the composer Emerikas Gailevičius, who conducted the Homocord orchestra. The first hits by Lithuanians were also released by the record company in 1932: Stasys Gailevičius’ tango “Kaunas”, the foxtrot “Meilė ir džiazas“ (Jazz and Love), Vladas Sipaitis’ “Gegužės burtai“ (May Spells) and “ Autobusas“ (The Bus), and David Brovin’s “Saulutė“ (The little Sun).27
The standard of small stage artists and restaurant programmes was not discuused in periodicals; only the latest music programmes, exotic artists and dancers, menus, good prices, exciting events, scandals, and other items were advertised.28 Some of the country’s famous intellectuals and artists were very critical of the entertainment of modern times and the appearance of jazz in Lithuania.29
Nevertheless, the professionalism and interests of small stage artists in the changing world can nowadays be heard and more fairly assessed from many surviving shellac records from the 1920s and 1930s. Revived in listener-friendly format (LP and CD) in the years of the National Revival and later, almost nine decades later they have not lost their relevance, and people still play them.30 During the Soviet era they were destroyed, as unwanted witnesses to life in the first independent Republic of Lithuania, and listening to them and collecting them, were officially forbidden. Therefore, the contribution of the collector Algirdas Motieka (1936–2017) is extremely valuable from a historical point of view, as his collection contains almost all Lithuanian records released between the First World War and the Second World War.31
The first orchestras
Hofmeklerband,1930s The violinist Moishe (Michel) Hofmekler (1898–1965) and his ensembles won the title of most professional small stage instrumentalists in Kaunas. They performed at the Metropolis restaurant. Hofmekler had learnt to play the violin under Professor Ilya Malkin (the Vilnius-born virtuoso violinist Jascha Heifetz was also one of his students). Hofmekler gave concerts in Kaunas with the Hofmekler Brother ensembles: a trio, a quartet and a quintet. Until the late 1930s, his Metropolis band, called the Hofmeklerband, was particularly famous. The first records were made by the Hofmekler brothers in Kaunas in 1924 on the arrival of Odeon. In 1926, Hofmekler gave the first concert at Kaunas Radio with an ensemble of seven performers.32 The Metropolis band released records in Berlin in 1928 and in Kaunas in 1931 which were often broadcast on Kaunas Radio.33 Hofmekler spoke excellent Lithuanian, and encouraged Lithuanian composers to write for the small stage.34 He was awarded the Order of Gediminas in 193235 for the popularisation of Lithuanian music and Lithuanian folk songs.
Josif Bank, the author of the hits “Spaudos baliaus valsas“ (Press Release Waltz), “Rožės ilgesys“ (Longing for a Rose), and the Jewish foxtrot “Ūpas“ (Mood), was also a member of the Metropolis band.
The ensembles of Abraham and Josif Stupel, Jasha Levinson36 and Chaim Ceitel were famous, as was Max Borstein’s Versalis band. A symphony orchestra conducted by the violinist Isaac Wildman-Zaidman played on the small stage at the Odeon Cinema prior to film screenings.37
Yasha Levinson's band,1930s 
Restaurant Versalis band, led by Max Borstein, 1939
The band conducted by the violinist Daniel Pomerantz (1904–1981) was best suited to the style of the swing band. Pomerantz studied at the Juozas Naujalis School of Music in Kaunas under the distinguished teacher Isaac Wildman-Zaidman. From 1922, he studied at the Berlin Conservatory (in Willy Hess’ class). He attended master-classes in Vienna given by the violin virtuoso Bronisław Huberman. He played in cafes in Berlin in the evenings and with the saloon band of the Russian emigre Dajos Béla (Leon Golzman),38 and later with one of the most popular bands in Europe, led by Marek Weber, who toured extensively in European capitals and released records. Around 1933, Pomerantz returned to Lithuania.39 He gathered an ensemble of six or seven multi-instrumentalists in Kaunas, and played at the Konradas, Monika, and other cafes. The band led by Pomerantz released 11 records by the soloist Antanas Dvarionas in London in 1936: a collection of new dances and popular melodies. These records were released in the United States in 1952.40
Daniel Pomerantz, the1920s 
Daliel Pomerantz orchestra, c.1938 
Daniel Pomerantz and Scherry band,1930s
Antanas Dvarionas (1899–1950), a member of the famous Dvarionas family of musicians, and an elder brother of the composer Balys Dvarionas, sang and played the saxophone with the Pomerantz band. Dvarionas was born in Liepaja in Latvia. He graduated from the St Petersburg School of Commerce before the First World War, and studied at the Institute of Mountain Engineering. He studied vocals at the conservatoire of St Petersburg and later in Leipzig. In Kaunas he worked for the orchestra of the State Theatre Opera, sang in the chorus, and also performed small roles. Having become interested in the small stage, he was one of the most popular artists of this genre, and promoted works by Lithuanians. In about 1934, he created and played in a jazz band. He sang at the Metropolis and the Versalis. For some time, he was the director of the Kaunas Varjetė (variété) Theatre and participated in its shows.41 Dvarionas stood out from other Lithuanian artists and singers by his perfect articulation, musicality, and sense of the entertainment music style.
Antanas Dvarionas, 1936 
The recording sessions of the band led by Pomerantz in London deserve special attention.42 In their style of performing, articulation, instrumentation and arrangements, Pomerantz’s band skilfully copied the music of American-style Swing-era bands of the 1930s.
Summing up the contribution of Pomerantz and his band to the development of jazz in Lithuania, it is clear that his good musical education, his links with famous European performers and orchestra leaders of the 1930s, his universal understanding of modern musical activities, his successful adaptation of his professional skills to the limited local conditions in the temporary Lithuanian capital, and his performances in Berlin and Vienna, all contributed tremendously. However, Kaunas was not on a par with the capitals of neighbouring Estonia and Latvia, due to the historical, political and economic circumstances. Tallinn was considered to be one of the pleasantest cities in northern Europe; while Riga, which was incomparably larger than Estonia’s capital, was undoubtedly the political and economic centre of the Baltic States throughout the interwar period, which was proven by the existence of foreign embassies there.43
Sextet Šeši vėjai (The Six Winds), 1930s The male jazz sextet Šeši vėjai (Six Winds), which formed in 1934 and existed until 1940, also performed in restaurants in Lithuanian cities and on state radio programmes. It was led by Stasys Gailevičius (1904–1997), a pianist and composer, and the author of the first Lithuanian hits. The stylistic performing style of the ensemble was much influenced by the style of the interpretation of the popular German vocal sextet Comedian Harmonists of the 1930s. Artists from the Kaunas State Theatre sang with the sextet. They sang in Lithuanian, while the lyrics reflected the new ideas of the aesthetics of Futurism and Expressionism promoted by the Lithuanian artists (writers, poets, painters, etc) called keturvėjininkai.44 Unfortunately, the sextet did not release any records, and left no recordings.
There were 45 small stage instrumentalists who played in cafes and restaurants.45 The conductors of the salon orchestras were professional violin virtuosos who interpreted the music of the entertainment genre perfectly.
A 1935 newspaper carried an article about a concert given by the symphony jazz orchestra, made up of the best musicians of Kaunas, on the stage of the Metropolitan Cinema.46
The joint orchestra was conducted by the Latvian conductor and composer Marc Lavry. The concert featured works by George Gershwin and Paul Whiteman, and music from operettas. At the end of the 1930s, it was planned to establish an entertainment and jazz music ensemble at Kaunas Radio, but not only was there a lack of money and new instruments, but also of musicians.
The end of the 1930s, the expansion of the totalitarian regimes of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and the 50 years of the Soviet occupation, left a mark on the lives of many artists of the first Republic of Lithuania in the 1930s and 1940s. They lost their creative freedom and their work was not appreciated, which lasted until the National Revival and the restoration of the second independent Republic of Lithuania in 1990.
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1 Reklaitė, Julija. Kaunas 1918–2015. Architektūros gidas (Kaunas 1918–2015. An architectural guide). Vilnius: Lapas, 2015.
2 Jankevičiūtė, Giedrė. Art deco Lietuvoje (Art Deco in Lithuania. Exhibition catalogue). Kaunas: Nacionalinis M.K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejus, 1998.
3 Visa Lietuva. Informacinė knyga (Lithuanian Yellow Pages). Kaunas, 1931.
4 Restoranas Metropolis Café (The Metropolis Restaurant Cafe), Lietuvos aidas, 19 May 1931, No 63
5 Išmokėto atlyginimo žinios (Report to the Tax Inspectorate about Salaries Paid). F. 209, ap. 2, b. 4558,1. 140; b. 4560, 1.142.
6 “Atidarys Kaune naujų restoranų” (A New Restaurant will Open in Kaunas). Lietuvos aidas. 26 October 1933, No 245.
7 Gustainis, Valentinas. Nuo Griškabūdžio iki Paryžiaus (From Griškabūdis to Paris]) Kaunas: Spindulys, 1964.
8 “Sumodernėjo Versalis” (Modern Versalis). Dienos naujienos, 20 October 1931, No 164.
9 “'Jazz music is played noisily all the time. Several couples try to dance. But you can hardly move in the crowd, because the cafe is already full of people ... I had visited a lot of cafes in Paris, but I had not seen such a noise,' the journalist [Juozas Keliuotis] was surprised.” Mulevičiūtė, Jolita. Modernizmo link: dailės gyvenimas Lietuvos Respublikoje 1918–1940 (Towards Modernism. Art life in the Republic of Lithuania 1918–1940). Kaunas: 2001. “Kaip Kaunas linksminasi. Monmartre Laisvės alėjoj” (Merry-Making in Kaunas: Montmartre in Laisvės Alėja). Sekmadienis, 23 October 1932, No 44.
10 Mulevičiūtė.
11 „Naujas restoranas-kabare (kabakas) "Skala“ (The New Restaurant-Cabaret [kabakas] Skala). Aitvaras. 16 November 1927, No 6
12 Jankevičiūtė, Giedrė. “Pramogų erdvės” (Leisure Spaces). Architecture of Optimism. The Kaunas Phenomenon 1918–1940. Exhibition catalogue, edited by Marija Drėmaitė, Vaidas Petrulis and Giedrė Jankevičiūtė. Vilnius: Lapas, 2018.
13 Jankevičiūtė.
14 Kančienė, Jolita. “Kauno valstybinio dramos teatro pastato metamorfozės“ (Métamorphoses of the Building of the Kaunas State Drama Theatre). Kauno valstybinis dramos teatras (The Kaunas State Drama Theatre). Kaunas: 2010.
15 Such as the cabaret singer Aleksandr Vertinsky, the violinists Jean Gulescu and Arpad Czeglédy, the pianist Dénes László, the revue star Fortuna La Creole (real name unknown), the Riff Biff Bang theatre, led by Louis Winston Douglas (African American, 1889–1939), the Laci Kolompar Gipsy Band, the conductor and composer Marc Lavry (Latvian, 1903–67), and circus artists and dancers.
16 Urbonavičius, Algirdas. Odė estradinei muzikai (Ode to Popular Music), 1989, No 20.
17 Translators Vladas Misiūnas, Ričardas Mironas, Adelė Lenartavičienė, Feliksas Ramonaitis, Bronys Raila and others.
18 “Kaunas pramogauja” (Festivities in Kaunas). Lietuvos aidas, 4 April 1939, No 102.
19 “Mūsų artistai pradeda išeiti mažojon scenon” (Our Artists Appear on the Little Stage). Žinovas, 11 September 1933, No 63.
20 “Radio stotis be antenų” (A Radio Station without Antennae). Lietuvos aidas, 27 February 1931, No 47.
21 “Populiarios muzikos koncertai iš “Monikos” kavinės“ (Popular Music Concerts from the Monika Cafe). Lietuvos aidas, 1 March 1938, No 1.
22 Girdvainis, Juozas. “Radijo muzikinė programa 1926–1940“ (Radio Music Programmes between 1926 and 1940). Muzikos barai, 2006 May-June.
23 7 meno dienos. Lietuvos muzikos centras, 19 December 1931, No 73.
24 Melnikas, Leonidas. Lietuvos žydų muzikinio paveldo pėdsakais (Traces of the Lithuanian Jewish Musical Heritage). Vilnius: Charibdė, 2008.
25 Marčėnienė, Eglė. “Lietuviškų plokštelių leidyba” (Releasing Lithuanian Records). Lietuvos muzikos istorija. Kn. 2. Nepriklausomybės metai 1918–1940 (The History of Lithuanian Music, Vol. 2) edited by Algirdas Jonas Ambrazas, Vilnius: Lietuvos muzikos ir teatro akademija; Kultūros, filosofijos ir meno institutas, 2009.
26 They were composed by well-known foreigners, such as the Americans Eddie Farley, Mike Riley and Nacio Herb Brown, the Austrian Wilhelm Grosz, the Germans Franz Grothe and Walter Kollo, the German-Austrian Peter Kreuder, the Russian Isaac Dunayevsky, the Polish Jerzy Petersburski, the Czech Rudolf Friml, and the Latvian Aleksandrs Okolo-Kulaks.
27 “Didelė pažanga muzikos srity” (Great Progress in the Field of Music). Naujas žodis, 30 April 1932.
28 Bibliography of the exhibition “Restoranai Kaune 1918–1940 m." (Restaurants in Kaunas in 1918–1940). Compiled by Alvydas Surblys. Exhibition material from the Old and Rare Publications Department of Kaunas Public Library, 2018. Unpublished.
29 We were intolerant of modern dance music, especially jazz. Balys [Dvarionas], with his usual musical humour, would make fun of jazz on the piano: he would lift the lid, put some newspapers, keys, nails and similar items on the strings, and then he would sit down at the keyboard and mock the 'musical novelties' very successfully." Landsbergis-Žemkalnis, Vytautas. Iš atminties ekrano (From the Screen of Memory). Vilnius: Versus aureus, 2009.
30 Shellac records were re-released by the Vilnius Recording Studio, Lithuanian Radio, National M. Mažvydas Library Semplice and Bomba labels.
31 “Plokštelė – turtas” (Records are an Asset). Interview with the collector Algirdas Motieka. Kultūros barai. 1989, No 8.
32 “Radio koncertai” (Radio concerts). Rytas, 10 August 1926, No 177
33 “Lietuviškos muzikos populiarizatoriai” (Popularisers of Lithuanian Music). Tempo, 28 August 1930, No 7.
34 “M. Hofmeklerio darbai lietuviškos muzikos srityje” (M. Hofmekler’s Contribution to Lithuanian Music). Bangos, 6 May 1932, No 16.
35 “M.Hofmekleris – sukaktuvininkas” (M.Hofmekleris celebrates his birthday). Bangos, 26 August 1932, No 32.
36 The violinist Jaša (Jēkabs) Levinson (1902–1941?), a Latvian Jew, alias Aldianoff, played in the cafes Pale-Ale and Monika in Kaunas in the 1930s. He led the 5 Aldianoffs ensemble in Riga, and released records with at Bellaccord Electro. He collaborated with the famous Latvian popular music performers Jack Mihaļickis and Oskars Stroks. He played in the Maskotte, Lido, Bulduri, Fokstrotd and Alhambra restaurants and casinos in Riga with the 5 Aldianoffs at the Princess-Pavillion restaurant in Scheveningen in the Netherlands in 1939. The biggest Latvian-Russian newspaper at that time Сегодня Вечером (Tonight) on 3 April 1933 carried a small article which mentioned that he "is back in Riga for a short time, but will travel back to Kaunas, where he has a long-term contract".
37 Surblys, Alvydas. “Kauno kino teatrai 1918–1940 m.: lokacija ir raida” (Kaunas Cinemas in 1918–1940: Location and Development). Kauno istorijos metraštis (Yearbook of Kaunas History), 2011, Vol. 11.
38 Urbonavičius. “Odė estradinei muzikai” (Ode to Popular Music). Kalba Vilnius. 11 August 1989, No 33.
39 Idem.
40 In 1952, Columbia’s subsidiary Parlophone rereleased the 1936 records by Pomerantz and Dvarionas. Columbia Record News Bulletin. July 1954.
41 Muzikos enciklopedija I tomas. (Encyclopedia of Music), Vol. 1. Vilnius: Lietuvos muzikos ir teatro akademija, Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2000.
42 Recordings by the Daniel Pomerantz Orchestra and soloist Antanas Dvarionas: “Skraido dūdų garsai“ (The Music Goes Round and Round,1936), and “Tu priklauasi tik man“ (You Are my Lucky Star, 1936).
43 Žalys, Vytautas. Lietuvos diplomatijos istorija 1925–1940 metais (The History of Lithuanian Diplomacy 1925–1940), 2012.
44 Members of the 1920s avant-garde literary group Keturi vėjai (Four Winds) considered themselves representatives of modern art, and based their creative work mostly on the principles of Futurism and Expressionism.
45 “Mūsų menas.” Kronika (Chronicle), 1938, No 1.
46 “Pirmą kartą Kaune džiazo simfoninio orkestro koncertas” (The First Concert by a Jazz Symphony Orchestra in Kaunas). Lietuvos aidas, 18 May 1935.
