Note Lithuania series introduces contemporary folk music scene

Music Export Lithuania continues the series of genre-specific promotional releases NOTE LITHUANIA, CDs and DVDs, designed to bring more Lithuanian artists to the attention of the international music industry. The third release FOLK (out of five in total) introduces diversity of the Lithuanian contemporary folk music scene.

The variety of shapes in which contemporary folk music (or post-folk, for that matter) comes in Lithuania is truly amazing. The spectrum of publication ranges from living tradition in the Lithuanian villages, songs and instrumental music (written by Dr. Daiva Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė) to close reconstructions of traditional folklore in the repertoire of the folklore ensembles and folk singers (Trys keturiose, VISI, Veronika Povilionienė, Loreta Sungailienė, Griežikai, Kūlgrinda, Tylos labanoro), from the stylized post-folk arrangements (Rugiaviedė, Sedula), blends with rock, world music (Atalyja, Keisto folkloro grupė, Algirdas Klova, Lyla), jazz (Sutaras and Dainius Pulauskas Group) to adventurous experimental interpretations and crossover twists (Donis, Sutartinės Party, Rasa & Jonas).

The principal inspiration source to all the subscenes is lively folk music culture in Lithuania, maintained by the village singers and musicians, folk music bands spread all over Lithuania, numerous folk music festivals as well as municipal and state institutions.

The new promotional DVD includes information about the bands (written by Daiva Račiūnaitė Vyčinienė and Ugnius Liogė), 25 video and 31 audio samples, the CD compilation consists of 19 full tracks. It is a full-lenght presentation of the Lithuanian folk music scene, united by the notion of traditional music.

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Lithuanian Jazz in Note Lithuania series

35 musicians and bands, 48 video samples from the gigs in Birštonas Jazz Festival, Vilnius Jazz, Vilnius City Jazz, Kaunas Jazz, Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival and other events in the DVD of the release, 14 audio tracks in the CD - this new double release to date is the most extensive and significant promotional overview of the Lithuanian jazz scene, compiled and presented by jazz musicologist Jūratė Kučinskaitė.

The release includes all the most relevant information on the key Lithuanian jazz artists starting from the jazz gurus Vladimir Chekasin, Vladimir Tarasov, Petras Vyšniauskas up to the representers of the young yet already distinguished generation Liudas Mockūnas, Jan Maksimowicz, Vytis Nivinskas, Dmitry Golovanov, Kęstutis Vaiginis, and presents the most varied stylistic range from traditional jazz to contemporary composition, free, fusion, crossover, from the mainstream to theatrical extravaganza and creative/experimental trends.

The release witnesses high energy and diversity of the Lithuanian jazz scene, permanent creative impetus accumulated by the numerous jazz festivals in Lithuania, rich video archives collected during the years as well as numerous ingenious projects released on CDs.

The NOTE LITHUANIA series is supported by the Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, and the Agency of the Lithuanian Author Rights Protection Association.

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