Jonathon Haffner was raised in Southern California where he began playing saxophone at an early age. He later studied at Rutgers University graduating with a BM in Music Performance.

Based in New York, he has performed/recorded with Butch Morris, Elliott Sharp, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Steven Bernstein, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Uri Caine, Jim Black, Eddie Henderson, Chris Potter, Jesse Harris, Brazilian Girls, Brian Blade, Graham Haynes, The Nublu Orchestra, Art Baron, David Binney, Craig Taborn, Kenny Wollesen and other New York musicians.

Haffner often collaborates with D. Naujokaitis. He also co-leads the group Himalayas, and performs in the ensemble Now We Are Here led by filmmaker Jonas Mekas.

Juozas Milašius, a guitarist, composer and initiator of various performances, is among the most conceptual and radical Lithuanian jazz musicians. His experiments with guitar and computer, noise and alternative means of sound production have provoked both staunch sympathy and categorical opposition. Among the highlights of his projects are “Gitaramanija” (1989), “Auksinės gitaros” (1998), “Milašius Power Trio” (2003) as well as solo appearances.

Having emerged on jazz scene with Petras Vyšniauskas’ Quartet in 1986, he later collaborated Vladimir Chekasin, Vytautas Labutis, Vladimir Tarasov, Tomas Kutavičius, Dalius Naujokaitis, Skirmantas Sasnauskas, Jonas Mekas, Darius Čiūta and other performers of experimental electronic music. The guitarist has also appeared in international formations with Sainkho Namchilak, Jim Meneses, Martin Schutz, Hans Koch, Fredy Studer, Jimmy Owens, Luc Houtkamp, Ned Rothenberg, Saadet Turkoz, and Kouhei Matsunaga among others. Milašius has performed in Russia, Italy, Poland, Estonia, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Austria.

This is his tenth performance in Vilnius Jazz Festival. In the past the festival’s stage has hosted thirteen of his projects.

Dalius Naujokaitis began his musical career in the late eighties and was an avant-garde feature of the Vilnius jazz scene performing with Juozas Milašius, Vladimir Chekasin, Petras Vyšniauskas and others.

He moved to New York in 1995 and made an impressive entry to the NYC scene with a series of original solo performances at Jonas Mekas’ Anthology Film Archives. He began to collaborate with Auguste Varkalis, Jonas Mekas and friends in Free Music on Second Street group, and partaking in the Now We Are Here Orchestra’ projects.

His drumming is featured in films by Jonas Mekas and other avant-garde filmmakers.

He has played and recorded with a variety of New York bands such as Kenny Wolleson’s Himalayas and Wollesonics, Art Baron, Butch Morris, Joey Barron, Briggan Krauss, Brazilian Girls, Tim Keiper, Jonathon Haffner, Otomo Yoshihide, Rocco John Group, and On Davis’ Cartoon Satellite.

He leads and drums for Untyte, which performs ancient Lithuanian folk tunes with a downtown NY edge.