“Vilnius JJazz ensemble” is an orchestra of 17 professional jazz musicians founded by trombonist, composer and arranger Jievar Jasinskis. The collective debuted in 2017 at the jazz festival “Broma Jazz” in Kėdainiai. There, the orchestra performed together with the vocal ensemble ‘The Backs’ and performed songs composed by Jievaras Jasinskis and Dorotėja Būdaitė, as well as original instrumental compositions by Liutauras Janušaitis and J. Jasinskis.
The Lithuanian JJazz ensemble performed at the “Broma Jazz” festival two more times (2018, 2020) together with the VDU chamber orchestra and vocalist Vytautė Pupšytė; “Vilnius Mama Jazz Festival” (2018) together with vocalist Vytautė Pupšytė; At the “Šiauliai Jazz” festival (2019) together with the group ‘Reinless’, at the National Philharmonic in Vilnius (2020) together with the Vilnius Choir, he performed Linas Rimša mass for choir and big band; at the art festival “Mažeikiai 2020”.
The main goal of the ‘Lithuanian JJazz ensemble’ is to raise the quality of professional jazz and to educate the public, to promote the creativity of jazz and other musical styles. Constantly organizing concerts of high artistic quality in Lithuania, as well as promoting the country’s name at the best jazz festivals in Europe and the world. In 2022, the big band’s debut album ‘American Stories’ appeared on online platforms, and a vinyl record of the album will be released in 2023. The collective is currently recording the second album “Deadly Dance” together with vocalist Vytautė Pupšytė, which will also be released in 2023.
