The Vilnius Jazz Club 1963–1965
By Rūta Skudienė
In the early 1960s, during the political relaxation in the Soviet Union, interest in jazz and the pressure from the younger generation of musicians were so obvious that an operative response from the regime was needed. Anastas Mikoyan, the first deputy prime minister of the Soviet Union and a member of the Politburo, took the initiative.1 During a visit to East Germany, he had learned that Communist Party officials allowed young people to get together in special clubs, “youth cafes”, which hosted the sort of events that were not tolerated in the Soviet Union: evenings of modern dance (twist, rock-and-roll, boogie-woogie) and avant-garde poetry were organised, and jazz was played. After consultations with the leaders of the Komsomol (Communist Youth Organisation), the Politburo decided to open the first youth cafes in Moscow (Kafe Molodyozhnoye, Aelita, Arbat, etc). Their relatively liberal environment, in which promising Soviet performers such as Alexei Kozlov (as), Vladimir Sermakashev (ts) and Vadim Sakun (p) gathered, strongly influenced the development of the Soviet jazz scene.2 The musicians were given a free venue for concerts, rehearsals and storage for their instruments and sound equipment. The cafes served dry wine, but the main task of these institutions was the organised control of young people. The clubs served as “evaluation societies” for jazz music, led by “council members” reporting to the city’s Komsomol Committee. Until the end of the Sixties, clubs under the auspices and control of this organisation existed in many Soviet cities: Leningrad (St Petersburg), Dnepropetrovsk, Kalinin, Kuybyshev (Samara), Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Voronezh, Riga and Vilnius. The Leningrad jazz club called Kvadrat lasted the longest.3
In December 1961, an event that was called the birthday of Lithuanian jazz by the musicologist Liudas Šaltenis took place at the Conservatoire (now the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre) in Vilnius, at which three ensembles gave concerts: Gediminas Narijauskas’ Dixieland, the quintet of Liudas Šaltenis and Eugenijus Puidokas, and Viačeslav Ganelin's and Remigijus Pilypaitis’ modern jazz quartet. The concert crowned a three-day series of lectures devoted to jazz given by the Conservatoire Students’ Scientific Society.4
The event was like an introduction to the activities of the Vilnius Jazz Club. According to Oleg Molokoyedov, a pianist and the author of articles on the development of Lithuanian jazz, at that time, in addition to other musicians, the participants in the ensembles in the evening at the conservatoire also gathered at the venue, and it paved the way for the original style of the Vilnius school of jazz .
Gediminas Narijauskas Dixieland, 1961–1962. Photographs by Algimantas Kunčius 
Vilnius jazz club sextet,1961–1962 
Viacheslav Ganelin and Remigijus Pilypaitis’ modern jazz quartet,1961–1962
The Vilnius Jazz Club opened its doors on 13 March 1963.
As a matter of fact, it was a cafe-cum-reading hall for young people at L. Giros St 22 (now Vilniaus St 22) that had opened a year before.5 The cafe was opened by decision of the City Executive Committee, at the initiative of the Lithuanian Komsomol, with the approval of the Vilnius Canteen Trust. The premises were provided by the Žinija Society, which previously housed the Union Press shop-reading room.6 The space was small and narrow, accommodating just 50 to 60 visitors. There was a Steinway piano on the stage, a bar at the end of the hall, and the cafe was a branch of the Palanga Restaurant.7 Visitors could enjoy Lithuanian fruit and berry wine from the drinks company Anykščių vynas, and other drinks.
The functional, minimalist interior of the cafe had modern chandeliers, and the large windows were covered with light curtains. The young architects and interior designers Viktorija and Eugenijus Cukermanas also designed the furniture, which was made by an experimental design office.8
Youth café-cum-reading-hall in Vilnius,1962
By the windows stood long solid wooden benches and elongated four-seaters, while in the middle of the hall were square double tables and chairs. Racks for newspapers and magazines stood on the left by the entrance.9 On the walls of the cafe hung many graphic works by students at the Vilnius Art Institute.10
In consultation with engineers from Leningrad, an attempt was even made to install stereo sound equipment in the hall.11 Lectures, meetings and other events were supplemented by music from tape recorders and records.12
The calendar of events was compiled by a 15-member council, chaired by a city Komsomol instructor. The cafe, favoured by young people, was called čitalka (in Russian "reading-hall").13 The names proposed by the council (Pelėda and Sinkopa [Owl and Syncope]) did not catch on. The cafe opened at 10am in the morning, and poetry recitals and meetings with artists and foreign guests took place in the evenings. The press reviews emphasised the “educational” atmosphere of the cafe, and the fight against “bad taste" led by the council.14
The audience at the cafe, and especially at the Jazz Club, were members of the liberated generation of the Fifties and Sixties. For many young people from different professional backgrounds, jazz became a hobby that they pursued with great passion, a symbol of freedom and disobedience to the system. The club had a friendly atmosphere; everyone could play an instrument, whether they were professionals or just jazz enthusiasts.15 The musician and famous photographer Algimantas Kunčius recalls that at the beginning, the club community consisted of over 50 members: students at Vilnius University, the State Conservatoire, Vilnius Art Institute and other Lithuanian institutions of higher education, and also composers, architects, painters, doctors and engineers.16
The concerts, lectures and meetings attracted crowds, so it was decided to take away the shelves with the papers, leaving only one, so that the hall could accommodate up to 100 listeners. This decision was taken in 1964 by the new head of the club Valerijus Koreškovas.17
Traditionally, lectures on the history of jazz and outstanding players were given every Monday. Recordings were played, music was performed, and meetings and jam sessions with known musicians from Hungary, Poland, Georgia and Japan were organised.18
Lithuanian jazz veterans still remember the impressive jam session with musicians from an orchestra led by Sadao Watanabe, a saxophonist from Japan.19
All performers of popular music who came to Vilnius were invited to the club to play and socialise after their concerts. The jam session devoted to Count Basie, with musicians from a Ukrainian popular music orchestra, is also remembered.20
In 1964, the first concert by the big band formed by Viačeslav Ganelin took place, and was dedicated to the work of the trumpet player Louis Armstrong, and many other memorable events were held there.
Posters, artist Algimantas Reimeris, 1964
Active members of the club included the musicologist and pianist Liudas Šaltenis, the composer and pianist Viačeslav Ganelin, members of the Vilnius University big band and sextet, the club presidents Jonas L. Martinkėnas and Rimantas Derkintis, the Sadauskas brothers, the photographer and double bass player Grigorijus Talas, the pianist, painter and designer of posters for club events Algimantas Reimeris, Professor Adeodatas Tauragis, and the composer Vygandas Telksnys.
The club existed in Vilnius until 1966. It is probable that reports about its activities were also sent to the Lithuanian Komsomol Committee and the KGB, and its activities and events received various evaluations from cultural functionaries. After closing "for renovation”, the Vilnius Jazz Club, as an unprofitable institution, did not resume its activities.
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1 Moschkov, Cyril. "Russia", The History of European Jazz. Equinox, 2018, p. 406.
2 Mazner, Antonin. "The Soviet Union", Jazz in Europe. Peter Lang Publishing, 2017, p. 206.
3 Moschkov, op.cit., p. 406
4 Šaltenis, Liudas. "Lietuvos džiazo saulėtekis" (The Dawn of Lithuanian Jazz). Literatūra ir menas, 19 April 1988.
5 Žilevičius, R. "Jaunimo kavinė kviečia jus" (The Youth Cafe Invites you). Vakarinės naujienos, 5 June 1962.
6 Pocevičius, Darius. Istoriniai Vilniaus reliktai 1944–1990, d. I (Historic Relics of Vilnius in 1944–1990. Part 1). Vilnius: Kitos knygos, 2018, p. 821.
7 Šlevys, G. "Čia susirenka jaunimas" (Here Young People Get Together). Komjaunimo tiesa, 9 June 1962.
8 Ibid.
9 Pocevičius, op. cit., p. 822.
10 Šlevys, op. cit.
11 Ibid.
12 Keidošius, Petras. "Kviečia džaz klubas” (The Jazz Club Invites). Tėvynės balsas, October 1964, No 84.
13 Pocevičius, op. cit., p. 820.
14 “They [the council] know that jazz is not just distorted faces and twisted hands, that there is jazz and jazz, that there is entertaining and commercial jazz, that we are for the former and the latter is foreign to us.” "Kviečia džaz klubas", Tėvynės balsas.
“… the club is the only place where you can learn the history of jazz, get acquainted with its most famous performers, and learn to distinguish real jazz from various cheap imitation jazz. Vilnius Jazz Club. Art self-activity.”
15 Šaltenis, ibid.
16 Kunčius, Algimantas. "Fotoreportažas Vilniaus džaz klubas" (Photographic Reportage on the Vilnius Jazz Club). Meno saviveikla, 1964 No 8.
17 Pocevičius, op. cit., p. 822.
18 Šaltenis, op. cit.
19 Molokoyedov, Oleg. Džiazo kūrimasis ir raida Lietuvoje. Džiazo istorija (The Establishment and Development of Jazz in Lithuania: Jazz History). Vilnius: Kronta, 2001, p. 218.
20 Ibid.
