Master of Jazz

May 2017 was very special to me. Why? Simple. It was a month when I finally played my last concert as a student. Now these days are finally over. Am I happy? Yes, definitely. I had an awesome time during these 6 years as a student, learning most favorite music in the world. By all means, it was not an easy journey. As all students I had sleepless nights, works submitted minutes before a deadline, festivals, concerts, exams… But it was worth it. I composed so many beautiful things, sang so many songs, participated in different projects (like collaboration of jazz department with ethnomusicologists, with choreographers, with video artists from other schools). Now I have a masters degree in jazz music and I feel so proud and honored, it’s simply indescribable.

My final recital was an adventure itself. Firstly I was late by one day to reserve a concert hall that I wanted, so I had to choose another date, that means that I had to change almost all the musicians in my band. Secondly I got Friday, which meant that a lot of the musicians were already busy somewhere else. Thirdly (is it even a word?), a day before the recital I had to go to another city for a very late concert, so on the day of my exam I had to take a bus early in the morning to arrive on time for the soundcheck. And finally, 3 of the tunes were composed maybe a couple of weeks before the concert, so the material was so raw, that I was scared to death and excited at the same time.

But this concert also means that I have a video of my latest work, which I consider a total hit. Maybe I am biased, but the tune means the world to me. So now I want to share it. Ladies and gents, I present to you “Lilacs”! Line-up: Pauls Kierpe on drums, Stanislavs Judins on double bass, Artjoms Sarvi on piano, Toms Rudzinskis on flute and saxophone, Dmitrijs Saligins (PM2THEAM) on turntables, me on vocals (well, who else?). I would like to say thank you to all the guys, you made this concert possible, you made the tune sound so amazing, you made it possible to receive a grade I received (not to brag, but it was the highest possible, 10 out of 10), thank you! This song will proudly join other songs in the repertoire of one of my bands – JAZZATOMY.

Lilacs.

Now, for those who’s interested, I used a TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2 processor along with a Voice Box by Electro Harmonix and a Telefunken M80 microphone