The Vilnius University Sextet and the Neringa Cafe
By Rūta Skudienė
At the end of the 1950s, like-minded people and jazz fans gathered on the premises of Vilnius University (during the Soviet era it was Vilnius State Vincas Kapsukas University). It is notable that not musicians but students of other subjects, medics, economists, chemists and physicists, were interested in the genre.
Jonas L. Martinkėnas, then a student in the Faculty of Medicine, and now a famous physician, professor and doctor of medicine, was a keen jazz fan. He became interested in jazz in 1956 while still at school, and learned to play the accordion under Valerijonas Dzevočka, one of the first accordionists in Lithuania. After entering the university, together with Rimantas Derkintis, he and his fellow students became involved in his circle. Jazz fans broadened their horizons by listening to records which they received from abroad: Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’ Sing Ellington, Dave Brubeck’s Time out, Duke Ellington’s Newport Jazz Festival 1958, and Count Basie’s The Complete Atomic Basie. They also read the popular Poosh magazine Jazz, and books on jazz by Ernst J. Berendt and other books in Polish. In 1958, Jonas Cijūnėlis (1926–2015), a universal musician, promoter of jazz and multi-instrumentalist, who had returned from exile in Siberia, joined in the amateur art activities. He formed a pop orchestra (big band) out of the most talented performers with a musical education from the university’s wind orchestra. According to Martinkėnas, there was no shortage of "fire and enthusiasm". Rehearsals took place every evening. Cijūnėlis knew how to inspire musicians. The first big band concert took place in 1958 in the university's Assembly Hall.
The big band of the University of Tartu, which gave a concert in 1959 at the invitation of Vilnius University, performed compositions by the Estonian composer Uno Naissoo in the swing performance style.1 Musicians from the two universities established a close relationship; the Vilnius musicians received professional jazz arrangements and advice from the Estonian performers. All were impressed by the big band septet Harvlek2 that played impressively in the style of cool jazz. After the visit by the Estonians, Cijūnėlis established the Vilnius University Swing Quintet (later a sextet) from the most talented musicians: Julius Šivickis (cl, ts) Rimantas Derkintis (p), Jonas Laimutis Martinkėnas (acc), Rimantas Žeimys (g), Jurgis Oleka (b), and Eugenijus Sokolovas (dr).
The sextet was very popular: it played at dances not only at Vilnius University, but also at the Conservatoire and the Art Institute, and also gave concerts. At New Year's Eve, the dance halls were packed.
In 1959, the sextet won a competition to play in the newly opened and later legendary Neringa Cafe in Vilnius. The view of the architects Algimantas and Vytautas Nasvytis was that only modern music should be performed in a cafe with a modern interior.3 Students, young people and senior Soviet officials liked to sit in the big hall with its stage: visitors to the cafe liked the ensemble, although it did not play dance music, but almost exclusively jazz compositions.4 The cafe's administration occasionally checked on the sextet’s repertoire. Martinkėnas recalls that he often had to get around it by renaming music by foreign composers: Lionel Hampton’s “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop”, which was so popular in the country, became Vitalijus Pushkov's “Spring”, and so on.5 The sextet performed in the cafe every evening for a year.
Having learned that university students were playing in the cafe, the university rector Jonas Kubilius ordered them to choose between the university or music. He believed it was impossible to study and work in entertainment at the same time. The students chose the university.
The university big band broke up when Cijūnėlis left to work for Lithuanian Television, but the sextet remained and played for dances at the Conservatoire and performed in the Youth Garden at weekends. Eventually, these musicians formed a Dixieland band and recorded music at the Vilnius Recording Studio.6
Martinkėnas did not give up jazz: he collected records, played Dixieland, and led the memorable 1961 concert after a conference at the Conservatoire. For some time, he was president of the Vilnius Jazz Club.7 After learning from the Harvlek musicians that jazz festivals were taking place in Estonia, he and Derkinčius were the first musicians from Lithuania to go to the 1964 festival in Tallinn, and later festivals between 1965 and 1967.8 They were amazed by the incredible popularity of the genre, the enthusiasm, and the large number of young jazz fans coming from the remotest parts of the Soviet Union. According to Martinkėnas, the visitors filled all the rooms in the city’s hotels, and they were put up in hostels and in train carriages. From 1965, Lithuanian performers also participated in the Tallinn jazz festival.9 In the 1960s, Tallinn was the jazz capital of the Soviet Union; and yet at that time more jazz musicians and amateurs lived in Moscow and Leningrad.
The Neringa Cafe opened its doors in November 1959. It was a meeting place for Lithuanian intellectuals from the 1960s to the 1980s, and was often compared to the Konradas in Kaunas, and La Rotonde and La Closerie de Lilas in Paris between the wars. The Neringa stood out from other catering establishments in Vilnius by its modern, artistic interior based on motifs from the legend of the Curonian Spit, and was unrivalled not only in Lithuania but also in the much wider region. Not only that: gourmet dishes were served, the service was good, and jazz sessions were held there. It is strange, but artists, scientists, loyal conformists to the Soviet system and dissidents, critics of the regime who communicated in Aesopian language, and KGB agents in disguise, all coexisted in the Neringa.
There was a stage in the big hall decorated with wall paintings (based on the legend of the love story between Naglis and Neringa on the Curonian Spit), and along the sides there were booths for those who wanted privacy. The small hall was the preserve of intellectuals, the exclusive “professors” table, at which not everyone was allowed to sit. The jazz did not bother the intellectuals, it was probably not their aim in going to the café; discussions on various topics, socialising and the drinks list were more appreciated.
According to the historian Arvydas Anušauskas, who has researched the activities of the KGB in Lithuania, in around 1958 a directive was issued from Moscow to allow foreigners into certain parts of the west of the Soviet Union, including Vilnius.10 This obliged the local authorities to set up an infrastructure to track them, so they had to be accommodated in one place. Around 1958, the architects Algimantas and Vytautas Nasvytis were commissioned to design a hotel with a cafe as a matter of urgency. All the hotel's rooms and the cafe had eavesdropping equipment,11 and for some time foreigners were accommodated only in the Neringa Cafe. Of course, the surveillance equipment was not perfect, all sorts of things interfered with it. Sensing this, the customers talked quietly, with their mouths covered. The music in the cafe was too loud. The musicians were asked by the staff to play more quietly, or to take a break, especially if those sitting in the booths were being listened to.12
Several generations of musicians have played on the stage of Neringa Cafe, from enthusiasts of traditional swing to promoters of free jazz . A regular group of musicians formed in the late 1960s, taking turns at playing in the cafe every night. The style of the music they played depended on the pianists: Algimantas Reimeris played boogie, ragtime and rock-and-roll on the piano with great enthusiasm. Vyacheslav Ganelin, who joined the band later, surprised listeners with his unusual improvisations and complex compositions. They were assisted by the double bassist and drummer Gregory Talas. Vladimir Tarasov came to a jam session, joined them, and for some time was a regular drummer at the cafe. The guitarist Viktor Kaplan was invited, and the saxophonist Vladimir Chekasin occasionally played the blues.13 In the 1990s, the Petras Vyšniauskas Quartet played there.
Still, some visitors and the cafe administration were not interested in jazz. Musicians were reported to the director for no reason, allegedly for playing while drunk. Tarasov was also reprimanded, as he usually played the drums with his eyes closed. The paradox is that these famous musicians were fired after a while for ... unprofessional playing. Later, repeated attempts were made to revive the jazz evenings.
“I was happy to play there ... There was a great instrument ... At that time, I experimented a lot. My greatest achievements in jazz were not at the Neringa, but my mastery was established and matured there,” was Ganelin’s comment on performing at the cafe.14
In the writings of some foreign authors about jazz in Lithuania, the Neringa Cafe has become a picturesque metaphor, describing the special atmosphere of the place in the 1960s and 1970s.15
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1 Uno Naissoo (1928–1980) was an Estonian composer and musician. He contributed a lot to the development of Estonian jazz. Thanks to his original jazz compositions, he is considered a pioneer of folk jazz in the history of Estonian jazz. In 1949 he initiated jazz festivals and became a pioneer of jazz festivals in the Soviet Union. In addition, he was a multi-instrumentalist and a music educator. In 1977 he established a light music department at the Tallinn Music School. The composer is the author of many books on music theory.
2 Harvlek was a swing band in Tartu that performed between 1957 and 1963. The name consists of the first letters of the musicians’ names, who were students of the University of Tartu. The group was very popular in Tartu. Their longest tour took place in 1959, when the ensemble performed at Vilnius University, and in Kaunas and Riga.
3 Jonušaitė, Neringa. “Neringos” kavinė: sugrįžimas į legendą (The Neringa Cafe: The Return to the Legend). Vilnius: Mažoji leidykla, 2014, p. 53.
4 “In the Mood”, “Night and Day”, “Mood Indigo”, “Deep Purple”, “Misty”, “Sidewalks of Cuba”, “Festive Minor”, “Take the A Train”, etc.
5 Similar "practices" were applied in other Soviet republics. The politicised control of youth in all areas inspired the "false name“ strategy, a widespread tactic among jazz musicians, whereby well-known jazz pieces were transcribed under Russian names or translated into Russian. Some anecdotal examples include Benny Goodman becoming Benjamin Godunov, Count Basie Konstantin Basjov, and Duke Ellington Dusja Ellingtonov. As the inspectors were usually Komsomol or Communist Party functionaries with no musical education and who knew nothing about jazz, this method was quite effective." Tiit Lauk, "Estonia", The History of European Jazz, Equinox, 2018, p. 550.
6 33D-00020267-68, Melodiya.
7 See the chapter “Vilnius džiazo klubas” (The Vilnius Jazz Club).
8 The popular Polish magazine Jazz had written about the Tallinn jazz festivals since 1959.
9 See the chapter on the Tallinn jazz festival.
10 Jonušaitė, ibid., p. 197.
11 Eavesdropping and recording equipment was secretly installed in the boxes in the cafe and at the "professors" table, and photographs were taken secretly. The historian found drawings in the Special Archives of Lithuania of how the surveillance equipment had to be planted on the table top and on the legs of the furniture. Microphones were also planted in plates of bread, vases and ashtrays. This operation was called zakaz (Russian for “an order”) in KGB terminology. Ibid, p. 198.
12 Tarasov, Vladimir. Tрио. Vilnius: Baltos lankos,1998, p. 30.
13 Jonušaitė, p. 60.
14 Ibid, p. 68.
15 Sawic,Jarosław. “Muzikinis palimpsestas. Apie lietuvišką džiazą” (Musical Palimpsest. On Lithuanian Jazz), Kultūros barai, 2021, No 3. 16 Matzner, Antonin. “Lithuanian Divertimento”, Jazz in Europe. Peter Lang Publishing, 2018, p. 213.
