Articles by Matthew Vasiliauskas
Tomasz Dąbrowski: Elevating Jazz Storytelling
by Matthew Vasiliauskas
Joseph Stalin famously said, “Music's a good thing. It calms the beast in the man." For Stalin though, not all music produced peace and serenity. In his eyes, certain types of music could just as easily act as the beast itself; ready to attack and tear apart the society around it. Perhaps the form of music that generated the most concern during the Stalinist era was jazz. According to historian Martin Lüke, jazz in the USSR between 1920 ...
Continue ReadingThe Ditties: Finding Freedom in Swing
by Matthew Vasiliauskas
When asked what interested her about the jazz art form, Nina Simone responded, “I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about. But jazz is dedicated to freedom, and that is far more important." Typically, what drives an artist's ambition, is the desire to hold mastery over their medium. Whether for their own gratification, or to attract the attention of others, the artist wants to bend the established rules of their ...
Continue ReadingSimona Smirnova: Cultivating Timelessness
by Matthew Vasiliauskas
Earl Hines once said, “I always thought jazz was like the trunk of a tree. After the tree has grown, many branches have spread out. They're all with different leaves and they all look beautiful. But at the end of the season, they fold back up and it's still the tree trunk." For the citizens of Lithuania, the relationship between trees and music has been an integral part of the culture. Throughout its pagan years, ancient Lithuania's polytheistic ...
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