Having not collaborated in the past, this trio will make its debut in accompanying a Hollywood silent film. However, this kind of experience is no news for the members of the trio.

This particular project at the Vilnius Jazz is organised in co-operation with film director Artūras Jevdokimovas and will be a part of Music for Silent Film cycle. Initiated this past summer, the project focuses on live music and silent film classics. It was already introduced in Šiauliai, Pakutuvėnai, Žagarė, Ukmergė and Vilkaviškis, where it presented American silent comedies accompanied by the Lithuanian, American and Estonian jazz luminaries.

Arkady Gotesman participated in all shows. This time he will collaborate with Swede and Ukrainian in Harry Hoyto’s 1925 silent fantasy adventure The Lost World, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel of the same name. In 1998, the film was deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

The visit of Swedish saxophonist Martin Küchen in Vilnius Jazz is as improvised and astounding as his life and his music. Instead of giving one planned concert with his own Angles 8, he will introduce himself in several capacities – as a soloist and a member of trio improvising a soundtrack to silent film.

Many a musician could wish for as adventurous life and career as his. He tried his hand as a street musician, travelled with a circus company in Europe, participated in dance projects, improvised with poets, wrote music for experimental films, theatre and sound installations, and on top of that recently tested the acoustics of an atomic power station and a water tower.

As winding was Martin’s path into music. His parents wanted him to play flute, but he started singing in a rock band (never stopped singing) and playing saxophone in Albert Ayler’s manner. In fact, his colleagues laughed at him to pieces, but the rebel didn’t stop – in the 90s he fixed himself on Swedish free jazz and improvised music scene, collaborated with diverse chamber groups, also composed for larger formations, performed as a soloist and with jazz orchestras.

Martin Küchen works with trios Sound of Mucus, Unsolicited Music Ensemble, Looper and Trespass, quartets Exploding Customer, UNSK; is a leader of Angles’ various projects, a member of Mats Gustafsson’s Fire! Orchestra, plays as a duo with guitarist David Stackenås. He has toured and performed with figures like Phil Minton, Sirone, Mark Sanders, Burkhard Beins, Andrea Neumann, Tony Wren, Luc Houtkamp and Joe Williamson.

Martin performed in Western and Eastern Europe, Balkans, North and West Africa, Canada, the USA and Japan. His discography amounts to over 20 CDs.

Amazingly, he never notates his compositions, but rather sends members of his group short recordings. At the rehearsals he plays or sings motives of his compositions, which are elaborated by his partners. According to critics, the result is sweeping!

Bassist Mark Tokar originally studied classical guitar at S. Lyudkevych Music College in Lviv, and later he switched to jazz double bass, which he studied at the K. Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice (Poland).

In 2005–2006, Mark worked as the artistic director of the Ukrainian–Polish Jazz Bez festival. He also organized a series of Metro Jazz concerts at the Lviv Philharmonic Society.

The bassist is the leader of the international projects Leo’m’art, Mark Tokar’s Quintet and Avtokar, a member of Ken Vandermark’s international project Resonance, also plays in the groups Undivided, Five Spot, Four, Varpaj and Yatoku.

Tokar has performed with a great number of improvised music celebrities including Bobby Few, Perry Robinson, Steve Swell, Michael Zerang, Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Fred Frith (USA), Klaus Kugel and Arkadij Shylkloper (Germany), Petras Vyšniauskas, and Mark Sanders (England).

Tokar has toured in the USA, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, France, Italy, Luxembourg and other European countries. Since 2006, he has taught at various jazz schools.

Arkady Gotesman is one of the most resourceful and versatile Lithuanian percussionists.

Gotesman made his jazz debut in the 80s, later collaborated with exponents of various trends including Roland Dahinden, Vladimir Volkov, Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky, Arkady Shilkloper, Julian Joseph, John Zorn, Jack Siron, Frank London, Anthony Coleman, Charles Gayle, Tim Daisy, Joey Baron, Barry Guy, Dominic Duval, Dave Douglas and Albert Beger.

For many years the percussionist has been working with Vyacheslav Ganelin, Petras Vyšniauskas, Vladimir Tarasov, Liudas Mockūnas, Dainius Pulauskas and Tomas Kutavičius. He also collaborates with Vilnius Jazz Orchestra and ACCOsax Freeminded trio; has presented original projects with Juozas Kuraitis, Eugenijus Kanevičius and many other improvisers. His latest passion is keyboards and drums duo with pianist Dmitrij Golovanov. The duo favours spontaneous improvisation stemming from a combination of acoustic percussion gestures, keyboard melodies and live electronics’ tricks. Duo’s exotic jazz is sometimes enriched by Rolandas Rastauskas’ poems.

Inspired by J. Brodsky’s poems Arkady recorded a solo album J. Brodsky in memoriam. He organises literary readings with actors; composes, records and performs music for theatre – collaborates with the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Meno fortas, Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre in Panevėžys.

The percussionist has always been preoccupied with theatrical vocabulary. In 2010, he invited to his first one-man show The Story of God’s Man (director Adolfas Večerskis), in 2012 together with visual artists Linas Liandzbergis and Artūras Valiauga he presented new project Percussion Postcards.

In addition to playing jazz, he performs contemporary academic music, writes scenarios for performances and installations, collaborates with dancers.

On the academic music scene Arkady has collaborated with singers Liora Grodnikaitė, Judita Leitaitė and Vladimiras Prudnikovas, cellist David Geringas, pianist Petras Geniušas, choirs Polifonija, Jauna muzika and Brevis, composers Šarūnas Nakas, Gintaras Sodeika and Zita Bružaitė among other representatives of various genres. Vyacheslav Ganelin and Osvaldas Balakauskas have dedicated their compositions to the percussionist.

Arkady Gotesman is a founder and member of Vilnius Klezmer Orchestra, organises the Klezmer Music Festival.