Vilnius Mama Jazz 2025

Vilnius Mama Jazz ran from Thursday May 22nd until Sunday May 25th 2025, featuring twenty different performances at the impressive Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, in the centre of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Nine of the twenty were designated as "festival concerts" the other eleven as "showcase stage concerts"; the distinction between them seems to be that "festival concerts" acts are better known and/or more experienced. This festival has taken place every year since 1988, making this one the thirty-eighth.

Right from the start, on the Thursday evening, it was obvious that the music at the festival would be cosmopolitan and cater to a range of different tastes. First on stage were the quartet Y-OTIS which comprised saxophonist Otis Sandsjö and bassist plus synth player Petter Eldh, both from Sweden, British keyboardist Dan Nicholls, and Dutch drummer Jamie Peet. Onstage, the four were fairly static and concentrated on their playing which was never loud but very listenable. The evening's other act was in contrast to Y-OTIS; it was Steam Down, a well-established London-based, six member ensemble which follows in the footsteps of such luminaries as Jazz Warriors and Sons of Kemet. The ensemble's saxophonist and vocalist, both at the front of the stage, interacted with and excited the audience, getting them to sing responses and dance in front of the stage... it was not difficult to see why Steam Down gigs in London and beyond regularly sell out... Many audience members left at the end with smiles on their faces...

Friday was a relatively quiet day, ahead of a busier weekend. Only three contrasting ensembles appeared on Friday, the free improvising Trio "Alliance," the touring UK five member Ishmael Ensemble and, most popular of the three, the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarser, who was returning to the festival with his group after a gap of fifteen years.

On Saturday afternoon, the first five "showcase stage concerts" appeared. All of them were engaging and entertaining, some more than others. In one case, the oddly named duo Weird Ugly Fish, one player stood out as exceptional and deserving attention. The duo brought together Julius Cepukenas on electronics and Aiste Kalvelyte on drums. She played an elaborate kit and was guided by hand signals from him. Time and again, she demonstrated that she could change her playing immediately without any hint of a gap...altogether, if there were an award for discovery of the weekend, Aiste Kalvelyte deserved it. Also impressive on Saturday, but this time in a "festival concert" , was Theon Cross who played tuba with three band members on guitar, saxophone and drums; whatever one's expectation of a tuba, Cross would probably have blown it away and made it more exciting, hence the excited applause from the audience every time he soloed.

In time-honoured fashion, the festival saved the best until last and sent the Sunday audience home happy...even if some had a tear in their eye... In 2008 the music world was shaken by the news that Swedish pianist Esborn Svensson had drowned in a scuba diving accident near Stockholm. Although Svensson's death brought an end to his Esbjorn Svensson Trio or e.s.t., his bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom combined with pianist Joel Lyssarides, trumpeter Mathias Eick, saxophonist Frederick Ljungkvist and guitarist Ulf Wakenius to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the trio. For fans of Svensson and those discovering his music for the first time, this was a great way to end Vilnius Mama Jazz 2025. Roll on next year...

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