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    With this double album I introduce myself as a performer of contemporary classical music, which, I believe, might come as a surprise for listeners who are familiar only with my work in the fields of improvised music and avant-garde jazz. However, various genres of music as diverse as classical and jazz, free improvisation and contemporary classical were always there along the way, playing a significant role in shaping my approach to musical performance as an improviser and a musician in general – an approach that blurs distinctions not only between different genres but also between improvised and composed music, improvisation and interpretation.

    In addition to leading my own bands and working on my own projects, I consider myself very lucky to have had many fortunate opportunities to appear as a soloist and a section member with major symphony and chamber orchestras, both locally and further afield, as well as to collaborate with fantastic chamber ensembles and creative improv and jazz bands, which have notably included the Gaida Ensemble and the Lithuanian Ensemble Network, the Chordos and Čiurlionis string quartets, the Copenhagen Art Ensemble, the Barry Guy Ensemble, the Andrew Hill Jazzpar Octet, the Marc Ducret Ensemble for Lady M, the New Jungle Orchestra, the Konvoj Art Ensemble featuring Evan Parker and Sten Sandell, Vladimir Tarasov and the Lithuanian Art Orchestra, and the Improdimensija Orchestra. Some of these wonderful orchestras and musicians continue to keep me company in live concerts and on these two discs.

    Over the years I’ve also had a chance to work with many talented composers who have written fascinating music specifically for me or who would ingeniously adapt to my abilities and inclinations as an improviser by giving me the freedom of self-expression in their otherwise strictly written compositions. Out of several dozen such works I have selected ten compositions by eight (mostly Lithuanian) composers and wrapped it all up under a title adopted from one of my all-time favourite Lithuanian concert pieces for solo saxophone, Polylogue by Osvaldas Balakauskas. All of the pieces were recorded – some live, some in the studio – over a period of fifteen years, from 2005 to 2020, which retraces a substantial chapter in my professional career as an improvising multi-reed player and composer.

    CD 1 opens with the title track and features contemporary Lithuanian music for solo saxophone and orchestra. CD 2 sets off with the track Social, which marks the beginning of my ‘socializing’ with the Chordos Quartet. All works for solo saxophone and string quartet committed to this disc have been recorded with the same constellation of musicians (except for the closing piece where percussionist Arkady Gotesman and accordionist Raimondas Sviackevičius joined us), which may be called a band as we’ve been playing music by different composers and experimenting with my own music involving a lot of improvisation based on graphic scores and other alternative forms of notation for almost two decades now. I have also seized the opportunity to pay homage to my first clarinet teacher, the brilliant musician Algirdas Doveika, by including my take on a solo clarinet piece by Vykintas Baltakas, which Algirdas used to play beautifully himself.

    Wishing you lots of exciting musical discoveries!

    Liudas Mockūnas
    January 13, 2021, Kernavė, Lithuania

    Includes unlimited streaming of Liudas Mockūnas "Polylogues" (2xCD) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
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  • Full Digital Discography

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of MATS GUSTAFSSON-LIUDAS MOCKŪNAS "Watching a dog. Smiling", Pacemaker, Liudas Mockūnas "Polylogues" (2xCD), Liudas Mockūnas In Residency at Bitches Brew, "Vers la Flamme", NOX, "Improdimensions", Liudas Mockūnas "Hydro 2", and 7 more. , and , .

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about

VYKINTAS BALTAKAS (*1972)
NO. 2 for solo clarinet (2000)

No. 2 was originally composed for piccolo flute in 1999 as a commissioned work for the Southwest Broadcasting Corporation (SWR). The version for B-flat clarinet was premiered the following year by Mārcis Kūlis at the Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany.

In this miniature work, I was looking for a particular sound register, in which the instrument sounds both moderate and precise. The piece can be compared to a haiku, in its concise format with relatively simple yet original and strangely complex patterns.

I like to take my time with the works I compose. This way I can watch them grow: the ideas crystallise, become more defined and I can focus on what is essential in that particular work. Every new version is a further development of the initial idea.

Vykintas Baltakas

This is the only solo work on this album, with which I pay homage to the memory of Algirdas Doveika (1957–2006), my first clarinet teacher, a fantastic person, musician and educator. Around 2004 we went on tour in Austria together with the Gaida Ensemble and Algirdas would perform this piece for solo B-flat clarinet at each concert. Perhaps for this reason this beautiful haiku springs to my mind almost every time I think of or happen to be reminded of Algirdas. I made a new version for contrabass clarinet and recorded it during my residency at the International Artists’ House Villa Concordia in Bamberg in 2019, adding some episodes of free improvisation to the written material.

Liudas Mockūnas

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from Liudas Mock​ū​nas "Polylogues" (2xCD), released March 21, 2021
VYKINTAS BALTAKAS (*1972)
NO. 2 for solo clarinet (2000)

No. 2 was originally composed for piccolo flute in 1999 as a commissioned work for the Southwest Broadcasting Corporation (SWR). The version for B-flat clarinet was premiered the following year by Mārcis Kūlis at the Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany.

In this miniature work, I was looking for a particular sound register, in which the instrument sounds both moderate and precise. The piece can be compared to a haiku, in its concise format with relatively simple yet original and strangely complex patterns.

I like to take my time with the works I compose. This way I can watch them grow: the ideas crystallise, become more defined and I can focus on what is essential in that particular work. Every new version is a further development of the initial idea.

Vykintas Baltakas

This is the only solo work on this album, with which I pay homage to the memory of Algirdas Doveika (1957–2006), my first clarinet teacher, a fantastic person, musician and educator. Around 2004 we went on tour in Austria together with the Gaida Ensemble and Algirdas would perform this piece for solo B-flat clarinet at each concert. Perhaps for this reason this beautiful haiku springs to my mind almost every time I think of or happen to be reminded of Algirdas. I made a new version for contrabass clarinet and recorded it during my residency at the International Artists’ House Villa Concordia in Bamberg in 2019, adding some episodes of free improvisation to the written material.

Liudas Mockūnas

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Liudas Mockūnas Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuanian saxophonist and clarnetist (born 1976)focused on improvised, avantgarde jazz, experimental and conteporary classical music. Among his stage partenrs were and are Andrew Hill, Copenhagen Art Ensemble, Mikko Innanen, Stefan Pasborg, Barry Guy, Agusti Fernandez, Marc Ducret, Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Ottomo Yoshihide, Kazutoky Umezu, Vladimir Tarasov ... more

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