The Rīgas Ritmi Festival has started

The first concert day of the international improvisation, jazz and global music festival Rīgas Ritmi was held on June 30 with the performances of Modern Standards Supergroup, Very Cool People and other colorful artists.

 

The main concerts of the festival took place in the garden of the Riga Cathedral, where Modern Standards Supergroup performed, as well as the group Very Cool People together with Paula Saija. Led by the award-winning Danish piano genius Niels Lan Doky, the jazz star group Modern Standards Supergroup with one of the greatest drummers of all time Billy Cobham, trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonist Bill Evans and bassist Linley Marthe offered their versions of current pop hits, turning them into virtuoso jazz gems. It seemed that such a concept was able to captivate jazz lovers of all ages. The jazz legends managed to play the themes of Dua Lipa's hit Physical and k-pop phenomenon BTS's hit Dynamite especially delicately.

 

The Latvian jazzfunk group Very Cool People together with the singer Paula Saija, on the other hand, premiered their new program, which will be released in the form of an album next year, but the first single Viens otram pretī has already conquered the radio stations. It is energetic original music with lyrics in both Latvian and English, and Very Cool People have long since proven that they can achieve their greatest power in concerts.

 

Great concerts were also held at the art center Noass on the AB dam, where the Jersika Stage operates. The performance of Steve Reich's composition Electric Counterpoint on the harpsichord and the performance of the program Codex Faenza on the clavicymbal was offered by Ieva Saliete, as an additional bonus she also premiered one of the pieces of the new program written for the clavicymbal by pianist Edgars Cīrulis. The legendary Latvian psychedelic jazz rock group Psychosis Amoralis, whose driving force is Dambis, who is known as the godfather of Latvian punk rock, also performed, but the evening was closed with a colorful concert by the American drummer, winner of the Riga Jazz Stage 2022 competition, Domo Branch, who performed together with pianist Kristaps Vanadziņš and bass player Jānis Rubiks.

 

The Italian guitarist Daniele Mammarella gave an experienced concert in the Riga Jazz Lounge bar in the Radisson Blu Latvija hotel together with his Latvian colleague Reinis Jaunais, and later the official festival jam session took place there together with the trio of double bassist Andris Grunte, or AG Trio.

 

On the morning of June 30, the American singer and songwriter Clark Beckham met jazz music students and others interested in the 1st studio of Latvian Radio, both demonstrating his musical skills and talking about his creative process.

 

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