News

Dainius Pulauskas group, a unique sextet from Lithuania, will provide opportunity to enjoy European jazz-fusion music in The Piano Man Jazz Festival. The performances will be held in Pune on 27th of November, in Goa on 28th of November and in Delhi on 29th of November. The concert in Delhi will take place in The Piano Man Jazz Club, B 6-7/22 Safdarjung Enclave Market, Opp Deer Park.

The composition of the group:

Dainius Pulauskas - keyboards
Valerijus Ramoska - trumpet, flugel, horn
Liutauras Janusaitis - tenor sax
Kestutis Vaiginis - alto & soprano saxes
Domas Aleksa - bass
Linas Buda - drums


Dainius Pulauskas is a pianist, keyboard player, composer, and leader of one of Dainius Pulauskas Group, one of the oldest formations in Lithuanian jazz. It was formed in 1995, and instantly became a leading jazz unit. According to Jan Patterson in All About Jazz, ‘the Dainius Pulauskas Group is a unique sextet whose mixture of melody and muscle, lyricism and the unexpected, places it firmly at the forefront of progressive European jazz-fusion.

’The key to the group’s success is the artistic excellence of its individual members, their unparalleled ensemble, and of course their music, a most idiosyncratic and vivid version of fusion, once described as ‘a forceful pulse of modern jazz’ by the Finnish jazz critic Risto Haapsamo. The group’s repertoire consists largely of compositions by its leader, Dainius Pulauskas. Marked either with a Nordic lucidity or seething energy and edginess, his music invariably displays a solid structuring of musical textures, and colourful combinations of acoustic and electronic instruments.

Dainius Pulauskas Group was formed in 1996 and instantly became one of the leading Lithuanian jazz units and an internationally renowned ambassador of Lithuanian jazz. During its first decade the group has performed all over Europe, as well as at jazz festivals in China and India, recorded 5 CDs and a DVD (Trajectories), and recently produced a program with the symphony orchestra. For several years the group has appeared as a sextet and in the past few years has performed in different combinations. The group's key to success is the artistic excellence of its individual members, their unparalleled ensemble, and, of course, their music – a most idiosyncratic and vivid version of fusion once described as "a forceful pulse of modern jazz" by Risto Haapsamo. The group's repertoire consists largely of compositions by its leader, Dainius Pulauskas. Either marked with Nordic austerity, or seething with energy and peppiness, his music invariably displays solid structuring of musical textures and colourful combinations of acoustic and electronic instruments.

Dainius Pulauskas Group is one of the most influential and active Lithuanian jazz units, and may rightly be called ambassadors of Lithuanian jazz. The Finnish jazz critic Risto Haapsamo has referred to their highly idiomatic version of fusion as "a forceful pulse of modern jazz".

The group started in 1996. After its debut as a quintet at the Birštonas Jazz Festival, the group was joined by the saxophonist Rimantas Brazaitis and evolved into a sextet; in 1997 they released a debut album Penetration. Dainius Pulauskas Sextet has beaten all local records by rising to the hall of fame of Lithuanian jazz in an amazingly short time. In 1998 it was joined by the saxophonist Vytautas Labutis. In recent years the group's lineup is more varying, as musicians such as Leonid Shinkarenko, Eugenijus Jonavicius, Kestutis Vaiginis, Skirmantas Sasnauskas join it for different projects.

The Dainius Pulauskas Group is well established and known not only in Lithuania, but also internationally through its participation in multiple prestigious European and Asian jazz events. The group has been featured in JazzBaltica (1998, Salzau, Germany), Beijing, Shanghai and Changchun International Jazz Festival (1999, China), JazzYatra (2001, India), SKIF-5 (2001, St. Petersburg), Copenhagen Jazz Festival (2002, Denmark), Stockholm Jazz Festival (2002, Sweden), Oslo Jazz (2004, Norway), Sibiu Jazz (2005, Romania), Big Band Jam (2007, Washington, USA), Jakarta Jazz Festival (2007, Indonesia), Penang Jazz Festival (2009, Malaysia), Beishan (Zhuhai) and Shenzhen Jazz Festivals (2011, China), Hong Kong Jazz Festival (2011, Hong Kong), Acacia Jazz Festival, Adis Ababa (2012, Ethiopia), Cairo Jazz Festival (2013, Egypt), Cape Town International Jazz Festival (2013, South Africa), Ottawa International Jazz Festival (2013, Canada), Garana Jazz Festival (Romania), Bratislava Jazz Days (2013, Slovakia), London Jazz Festival (2013, UK), Izmir European Jazz Festival (2014, Turkey), Tokyo Jazz Festival (2014, Japan).

To recognize their achievement, the Lithuanian Musicians' Union awarded the group with the Golden Disc in 2001; in 2004 the group received the LT Identity award of the Lithuanian Institute for promoting Lithuanian jazz.

Please follow the links to listen and enjoy some of the best performaces:

Dainius Pulauskas Group at the Vilnius Jazz Festival.

Dainius Pulauskas Group - White

Reviews:

Dainius Pulauskas Sextet: Autumn Suite CD review in All About Jazz.

Hong Kong International Jazz Festival review, September 28-30, 2011.

The 6th Penang Island Jazz Festival review, December 3-6, 2009