On 15 September at 19.00, the Ventspils Big Band invites you to the first jam session of the autumn season in the Small Hall of the Concert Hall “Latvija”. This jam session will feature the concert programme “Laikmeta impresijas” (Impressions of the Era) by the concert’s special guests – Arta Jēkabsone (vocals) and Toms Rudzinskis (saxophone), whose authors reflect the search for identity and meaning of the Latvian exile writers’ group “Elles ķēķis” (Hell’s kitchen) in America in the musical language of that era – jazz big band.
The connection between jazz music and the artists of “Elles ķēķis” is multifaceted and serves as the central axis of the concert programme – these poets were in New York during the golden years of jazz music, and like the musicians’ constant search for musical form and message, they created new poetic styles, innovations in form, asymmetrical verse, dismantling of linear composition and associative imagery, thus also engaging Latvian poetry with the world poetic aesthetic.
Referring to the poets’ search for meaning in the new world, with lightness over uncertainty and difficulties, not closing themselves off, but integrating into the world trends, while not losing themselves and their national identity, the newly created compositions also focus on the themes of identity and belonging, existential issues and issues of the meaning of Latvianness, which are also relevant today. The new works will intertwine the words of poets (Linards Tauns, Gunārs Saliņš, Rita Gāle, Elza Ķezbere, etc.) and jazz music, as well as motifs from Latvian popular music and folk melodies of the time, reflecting the dual belonging of the artists, the opposites and inner conflicts of their lives, and their memories of Latvia. The sound of the music will be interwoven with documentary audiovisual recordings.
Arta Jēkabsone and Toms Rudzinskis have proven themselves in their artistic activity as professional, internationally recognised musicians and authors, who have also spent part of their professional lives overseas. This concert programme will be an opportunity to combine the performances of these two Latvian jazz talents in a valuable and lasting collaboration.
Under the leadership of saxophonist, producer and music teacher Renārs Lācis, Ventspils Big Band has been active since 2010. The concert line-up consists of students and teachers of Ventspils Music High School who boldly follow new challenges and are eager to perform not only world-renowned and well-known, but also Latvian composers’ music and contemporary original compositions.
The concert is organised by SIA “Kurzemes filharmonija” with the financial support of the Ventspils State City Municipality. The concert programme has been developed with the support of the State Culture Capital Foundation. Tickets are available at the ticket sales network “Biļešu paradīze”, as well as at the box office of the Concert Hall “Latvija”.
The event is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the municipality of the Ventspils State City. Tickets are available at the ticket sales network “Biļešu paradīze”, as well as at the box offices of the Theatre House “Jūras vārti” and the Concert Hall “Latvija”.
