Vilnius–Kaunas–Klaipėda: the mosaic of the 1960s and 1970s

By Rūta Skudienė

Until the Khrushchev Thaw of the 1960s and shortly after, jazz was officially considered a phenomenon that was unacceptable to Soviet ideology and alien to Lithuanian culture.¹ However, even after the difficult postwar decade, according to contemporaries, creativity was less restricted here than in other Soviet republics.

The Lithuanian Radio and Television Light Music Orchestra, established in 1958 and led by Jonas Vadauskas, began recording music of various genres by Lithuanian and foreign composers.² An ad hoc committee selected 24 of the best popular music performers in Vilnius, who were the core of the orchestra. In 1960, the Light Music Section was established at the Composers’ Union. The composers Benjaminas Gorbulskis, Eduardas Balsys, Antanas Rekašius, Teisutis Makačinas, Mikas Vaitkevičius, Feliksas Bajoras, Osvaldas Balakauskas, Rimvydas Racevičius and Viačeslav Ganelin drew their inspiration and ideas from jazz. For many Lithuanian composers and musicians, their work at the radio studio became their creative laboratory. From 1961 to 1965, the orchestra was led by Rimvydas Racevičius. He collaborated with Rostislav Merkulov, the leader of the Estonian Radio and Television Orchestra, and included in the repertoire of his orchestra jazz pieces by Estonian and foreign composers. The collective gave many concerts. Aloyzas Končius, who led the orchestra from 1969 to 1985, was the first Lithuanian pianist to perform and record George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" with the orchestra.³ Ganelin's early compositional jazz pieces "Melody", "Impromptu" and "Andante" were also recorded by the orchestra.⁴ The trombonist, conductor and composer Tauras Adomavičius, who led the orchestra from 1985 to 1991, performed jazz pieces by various foreign writers for the orchestra. Jazz-style compositions were also written by the trombonist, guitarist and composer Jaroslavas Cechanovičius. He played in amateur light music ensembles, at the Neringa Cafe, the Erfurt Night Club, and the Lithuanian Radio and Television Orchestra, and in 1991 he became the conductor and artistic director of the orchestra. Cechanovičius’ piece for big band “Noriu groti bliuzą” (I Want to Play the Blues) won the first prize in the National Jazz Competition (1987). Kronta publishers printed a collection of his jazz etudes and pieces for guitar Eskizai ir paveikslai (Sketches and Pictures).
In 1963, the Nemuno Žiburiai Orchestra (later the Lithuanian Light Music Ensemble), at the initiative of Teisutis Saldauskas, brought together the best big band musicians in Šiauliai and musicians from Kaunas, singers from Šiauliai, and guest instrumentalists from other republics. The multi-instrumentalist and arranger Jonas Cijūnėlis, who led Nemuno Žiburiai, taught the musicians to play in the swing style. Liudas Šaltenis (p) and Eugenijus Puidokas (tp), who had formed the ensemble before it became a swing-style big band, performed jazz by Count Basie, George Russell, Bill Potts, Kai Winding and Benny Carter, and recorded some of this music at the Lithuanian Radio studio.⁵
Just like the big band of Juozas Tiškus,⁶ the ensemble played instrumental jazz and pop music, and gave concerts in many cities in the Soviet Union. Passionate jazz enthusiasts such as the saxophonists Giedrius Valiukėnas, G. Einikis, Eugenijus Kunickas and Romualdas Malašauskas, as well as Eugenijus Puidokas (tp), Valdas Kontvainis (tp), Teodoras Kareckas (tb), Vladimiras Tarasovas (dr), later Balys Žiūraitis (p), the soloist Džilda Mažeikaitė, and many others, performed with the orchestra. Over time, some musicians left, and there was a lack of performers who could play jazz. Viktoras Voronovas, who led the ensemble from 1973, tried to continue the tradition of the ensemble, but the interest in this genre in Lithuania waned.

Officially ignored jazz was played in Kaunas cafes and restaurants. The Tulpė Café and Orbita, one of the first night clubs in Lithuania, on Laisvės Avenue, were distinguished not only by the music played there, but also by the appreciative audiences.

The pianist, composer and arranger Romualdas Grabštas (1943–2009) started playing jazz at the beginning of the 1960s with the ensemble at the Tulpė Cafe, and led it from 1963. From 1966 to 1971, he led the instrumental ensemble of the branch of Lithuanian Radio and Television in Kaunas. He recorded compositions based on classic jazz standards with the city's best instrumentalists in the recording studio of Lithuanian Radio in Kaunas. The Vilnius Recording Studio released dance music paraphrases of works by Thelonious Monk and Dave Brubeck, Dixieland, and compositions and arrangements by Grabštas, Felikas Bajoras and Litauras Bielionis. The musical film Ritmai, ritmai (Rhythms, Rhythms), directed by Vytautas Dabašinskas with the participation of Grabštas' ensemble, was made for Lithuanian television in 1968.⁷
Paradoxically, the group was disbanded for promoting Western music. From 1971, Grabštas played with the Octava orchestra. In 1980 he formed a jazz ensemble at the Kaunas Artists' House, with which he participated in Vitebskaya osen '85, Baltijos Jaunystė (1980, 1986), Tudendi Jazz in Tallinn (1987), and the Birštonas Jazz Festival (1980, 1984, 1986). At Birštonas in 1986, the composition "Long Journey", performed by a quartet made up of Grabštas (p), Virginijus Švabas (g), Ivars Galenieks (db) and Arvydas Joffė (dr), was voted best in the festival. After the festival, the piece was performed on "Jazz Panorama" for Moscow Central Television.

Later, the well-known saxophonist Rimantas Brazaitis played with Virginijus Švabas (g), Eimontas Švabas (b), Vladimiras Teluchinas (dr) and Arvydas Joffė (dr) at the Kaunas Art Workers’ ensemble.
In 1991, Grabštas founded and led the Kaunas Big Band, and was its artistic director and conductor until he died in 2009.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Klaipėda was a half-closed Baltic port; however, the city’s cultural life was quite intense. Jazz was usually played in restaurants. Traditionally, the first hour of the evening programme was dedicated to jazz. Sailors were regulars at the Bildukas, Klaipėda, Jūra and Pempininkai restaurants, and the Meridianas and Regata restaurants on the River Danė. They would bring to Klaipėda, at the musicians’ request, recordings of American jazz, which were priceless sources of information and an object of study for local jazzmen.  
Industrial enterprises, including the Klaipėda Construction Trust, encouraged amateur art, and large and rich companies sponsored several performing groups each. The Žėrutis ensemble, formed by Teisutis Saldauskas, enjoyed the work conditions of a professional music group: the musicians would rehearse daily and received salaries. When the trombonist Teodoras Kareckas (1935–1975) from Šiauliai became the leader of the band, Žėrutis was acknowledged as one of the best jazz bands in Lithuania. In fact, their favourite genre was only a small part of their programmes; the musicians usually played at festivals and competitions (the orchestra gave concerts with Klaipėda pop singers). Instrumentalists invited from other Lithuanian cities, Eugenijus Kunickas (as), Raimondas Milkevičius (db) and Paulius Šartneris (dr), constituted a strong nucleus of the band, capable of performing the original bop-style compositions by Kareckas. For four years in succession (starting in 1967), Žėrutis won the main prize at the Kaunas Spring pop music festival, and in 1967 and 1968 it was awarded at the Amber of Liepaja festival in Latvia.  
Several pieces were recorded during the Elektrėnai festival winners' concert at the National Philharmonic Society mentioned above.

In 1975, the Chair of Pop Music Studies, the only chair at the time providing professional training for jazz musicians in the Baltic countries, was established at the Klaipėda Faculty of the Lithuanian State Conservatoire. Its founder was the clarinettist and saxophonist Pranciškus Narušis (b.1943), a graduate of the Lithuanian Conservatoire, and an undergraduate from the Leningrad Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire. The first teachers were the trombonist Jurgis Barakauskas and the pianist Saulius Šiaučiulis. Narušis organised a big band and Dixieland for students studying orchestral music. During lectures, concerts and recording sessions, students performed together with their teachers. In this way, they extended their experience of orchestral work, mastered swing, and were taught improvisation. The students arranged classic jazz themes, the best of which were performed by the orchestra. A serious programme of instrumental jazz pieces and Dixieland was prepared, and an LP was released. The orchestra performed actively and recorded swing classics and jazz-rock compositions for Lithuanian radio. The trumpeter Vytautas Grubliauskas, Rimantas Bagdonas (p), Romualdas Malinauskas (b), Arvydas Joffė (dr), and many other famous jazz instrumentalists, played with the big band of the Klaipėda Faculty. In 1977, the big band won the main prize at the Amber of Liepaja festival of pop music in Latvia, and since 1980 it has been a regular participant in the Birštonas Jazz Festival.

The composer, pianist and keyboardist Saulius Šiaučiulis (b. 1951), an associate professor of the Chair of Jazz at Klaipėda University, gave concerts with many Lithuanian artists from 1974, writing jazz pieces, music for drama performances, and songs for children. In 1976, he formed a quartet with Viktoras Ignatovas (as), Romualdas Malinauskas (b) and Arvydas Joffė (dr), which participated successfully in many  Soviet jazz festivals, and won awards at Tbilisi’78, Tallinn’79, Riga Summer Rhythms, Donetsk, Vitebsk, Arkhangelsk and Birštonas. He played with the Klaipėda Faculty's Dixieland band and big band, and in a duo with Pranciškus Narušis (cl), and formed an ensemble, led it, and released the record Credo.⁸ He also wrote "Jazz Themes for Improvisation Studies" (1999, 2003, with CD).

The trumpeter Vytautas Grubliauskas (b. 1956) studied at the Department of Popular Music at the Klaipėda Faculty. From 1984, he was its teacher, associate professor and head of the Chair. Called the Lithuanian Louis Armstrong (and nicknamed “Kongo”), the leader of the groups Memel Swingers and Doudi Jazz Band gave many concerts in Lithuania and abroad, and at the Kurpiai jazz club in Klaipėda. He was an organiser, director and participant in the Dixieland and 1994-2004 International Klaipėda Castle jazz festivals.

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¹ The attitude of the Soviet authorities was expressed by the popular saying: Сегодня ты играешь джаз, а завтра Родину продашь! (Today you play jazz, and tomorrow you will betray the Motherland!).
² Jonas Vadauskas led the orchestra from 1958 to 1961, and 1965 to 1969.
³ Šaltenis, Liudas. Mūza su mikrofonu (Muse with a Microphone). Vilnius: Mintis, 1983, p. 19–20.
⁴ Šiaulys, Kazimieras. Estrada. Vilnius: Petro ofsetas, 2002, p. 33.
⁵ Idem, p. 40.
⁶ See the chapter about the LEO.
⁷The musical film Ritmai, ritmai (Rhythms, Rhythms), 1968. https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/3599/ritmai-ritmai/
⁸ Melodiya, C60-14569-7, 1981.