This week Klaipėda and its guests will be alive with the rhythm of jazz: the XXIX Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival will start in a few days. “The 29th Jazz Festival is marked by comebacks: the main festival events return to the heart of the city – Theatre Square. And the legendary jazz club Kurpiai will once again invite everyone to a night jazz session. As the motto of the festival proclaims – good music for good people, so we are looking forward to seeing everyone in a good mood, and we promise good music!”, – says Inga Grubliauskienė, the head of Klaipėda Jazz Festival.
Festival programme 21 June 19.00 will start with the music seminar “Music Heals”, which will take place in Klaipėda St. In the chapel of the Oncology Centre of St Francis of Assisi Church. This social project, which has become a tradition with the Franciscan Friars, aims to create a space that fills with warmth through music, provides safety to share experiences and inspires faith. Here, Kartvela Liza Kereselidze and pianist Luka will share their southern warmth and temperament with the audience.
June 22nd In the evening, all Klaipėda residents and guests are invited to come to the Theatre Square, where the main jazz programme of Klaipėda Castle will be opened by the graduates of the Jazz Music Department of Klaipėda University “Old City Band”.
They will be followed by guests from Georgia “Liza Kereselidze & Band”. Their performance will be a symbolic farewell to Professor Vidas Kavaliauskas, the head of the Centre for Lithuanian Language and Culture at the Technical University of Sakartvelo, who passed away unexpectedly several weeks ago.
And the first night of the festival will culminate in a joint performance by Monika Liu and Los Secretos de Pablo. A special, never-before-seen programme awaits everyone at the Theatre Square, inviting everyone to a crazy journey from retro to jazz.
On Midsummer’s Eve, all those gathered on the banks of the Danube at the Castle Bridge will be able to see how jazz is coming to the city. 23 June from 15.00. The crew of the Klaipėda University yacht Odyssey will bring music to the banks of the Danube (from the Cruise Ship Terminal to the Castle Bridge).
After the guests of the festival – the energetic musicians of The Jice Aces (United Kingdom) – have sailed, the yacht Odyssey will be moored at the Castle Bridge and will open its deck to visitors interested in sailing, ships and maritime traditions. 1985 The 14-metre double-masted yacht, which is being built for beginners, will be open until 17.00. “It is a great honour for our ship and the whole team – we have become the participants of the XXIX Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival, which is famous for the city. For the first time we will sail to the city with music and we hope that jazz with a maritime flavour will be a memorable event for both the musicians and the audience”, says Dainius Blaževičius, captain of the KU yacht Odysėja.
On Friday evening, a real summer fiesta awaits the audience at the Theatre Square: the programme will be opened by the joint Sofia Rubina and Kaunas Big Band (Estonia, Lithuania). The famous British band The Jive Aces, the “little yellow men”, will take the stage and invite everyone to move to the rhythm of jive and swing, and the evening’s programme will be rounded off by the famous bassist from the United States, Nik West, known as the female Lenny Kravitz.
On the final day of the festival, 24 June, the first guests from Israel, Spice’n’Space, will appear on the stage of the Theatre Square, inviting you to listen to the excellent jazz and funk improvisations.
Afterwards, the audience will be brought to its feet Anyanya, the winner of the musical project “Voice of Lithuania” together with Big Band of the Military Music Centre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ingrida Toleikyte, a musician from Klaipėda.
O XXIX Klaipėdos pilies džiazo festivalio programos vinimi taps tarptautinio džiazo projekto, oficialaus muzikinio Šiaurės Atlanto sutarties organizacijos (NATO) ir Sąjungininkų pajėgų vado Europoje (SACEUR) atstovo – „SHAPE International Band/NATO Jazz Orchestra” pasirodymas, po kurių visi norintieji kviečiami į džiazo sesiją muzikos klube „Kurpiai”.
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Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival is a jazz music festival organised in Klaipėda since 1994. XXIX festival will take place on 22-24 June this year. The festival will take place on June 24th, 2018 at the Theatre Square in Klaipėda. All festival events are free of charge.
Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival website: www.jazz.lt