Various Artists: Live at the M/Darbnīca Vol.1

In 2017 a boom happened in Latvian and Baltic jazz history with the coming of Jersika Records, an independent jazz and improvised music record label. Since then, the Riga-based label has been delivering top-notch music records each year. Focusing mainly on Latvian musicians and bands with occasionally occurring exceptions such as Estonia-based American trumpeter Jason Hunter or Lithuanian saxophone virtuoso Liudas Mockūnas. Jersika Records has become a warm place for Baltic jazz.

In 2023, Jersika Records released its first various artists' compilation, Live at the M/Darbnīca vol.1: Jazz in Riga: Latvia 2022/2023. Kind of a lengthy title but informative. M/Darbnīca is Riga's famous jazz venue and cultural center where between August 2022 and January 2023 showcases of Latvian jazz musicians and bands took place. That is what this compilation is about. Thirteen acts were recorded for this compilation.

On the album, one catches vibes from post-bop and neo-bop, a blend of spiritual, smooth as well as fusion jazz along with experimental/avant-garde tunes, plus free improvisation and even rearranged folk material. It is all original stuff, played by top Latvian jazz musicians, some of whom team up with their buddies from across the globe, for instance Latvian vocalist and pianist Līva Dumpes' collaboration with Italian guitarist Massimo Imperatore and Amsterdam-based double-bassist Omer Govreen or trombonist Vadims Dmitrijevs' quintet.

The newest compilation opens Latvian jazz and improvised music doors for those who have never ventured into the Baltic region. Live at the M/Darbnīca vol.1 | Jazz in Riga | Latvia 2022/2023 is an eloquent chronicle of the Latvian jazz scene's renaissance.