Kaunas Big Band & Laura Budreckyte – Saulkrasti Jazz Festival

Kaunas Big Band & Laura Budreckyte

Tribute to Ella Fitzerald

The life of a jazz legend, often refered to as the „First Lady of Song“ Ella Fitzgerald, had been developing rapidly without pauses. Kaunas Big Band’s concert program called Tribute to Ella Fitzerald is about aristocratically luxurious meeting of Ella Fitzgerald and the young generation Lithuanian jazz singer Laura Budreckyte. Although jazz singers are set apart in time for more than a century, they do have common possessions… As impressive timbres of these performers, their attention and sensitivity to the lyrics they perform, the wide diapason, the purity of their voices and ability to improvise freely. Most importantly, the repertoire of both includes songs that cover almost the entire alphabet: from the childishly cute “A” (All of Me) to the vodevilely graceful “Y” and “T” (You’d So Nice To Come Home). This is a short but memorable journey to jazz music, where Laura Budreckytė is greeted by the twists and turns of Ella Fitzerald’s melodies. Let us hasten to enjoy the golden pages of jazz history!

KAUNAS BIG BAND
For 30 years, Kaunas Big Band (chief conductor Jievaras Jasinskis) has been the flagman of jazz culture of Kaunas. During the time of activity, the big band has been a witness, participant and creator of the significant jazz events in the country. Kaunas Big Band was the only municipal jazz orchestra for a long time. For a few generations, it has become the life school of jazz for many musicians. Almost all Lithuanian jazz musicians had some precious moments on stage with Kaunas Big Band: Petras Vyšniauskas, Valerijus Ramoška, Vytautas Labutis, Saulius Šiaučiulis, Arvydas Jofė, Olegas Molokojedovas, Eugenijus Kanevičius, Arkadijus Gotesmanas, Pavelas Giunteris, Vytautas Mikeliūnas, Liudas Mockūnas, Neda Malūnavičiūtė and others. It is hard to imagine annual Lithuanian jazz festivals – Kaunas Jazz, Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival, Šiauliai Big Band Festival – without Kaunas Big Band. The orchestra has been playing at Birštonas Festival since its establishment. All these stages had witnessed many memorable concerts: the audience was introduced to many worldwide known artists, such as Jukka Linkola, Eero Koivistoinen (Finland), Barbara Dennerlein (Germany), Daniel Messina (Argentina), Frank Mantooth, Randy Brecker, Jiggs Whigham (USA), Arkady Shilkloper (Russia), Henk Meutgeert (Holland), Richard Galliano (France), Lasse Lindgren (Sweden), Bob Mintzer (USA), Hermine Deurloo (the Netherlands), Gunhild Carling (Sweden), Peter Beets (the Netherlands), Line Kruse (Denmark) and many more. Together with these artists, Kaunas Big Band played in Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belarus, Poland, Russia.

Laura Budreckytė is an up-and-coming talented jazz artist, a vocalist distinguished by subtle emotionality who conveys her creative visions in the contemporary mainstream style enriched with masterful scat singing and uses her voice as an ensemble instrument with equal rights.