The International Festival of Improvisation, Jazz and Global Music Rīgas Ritmi 2021, which will take place in several places of the capital from June 30 to July 3, has announced the full concert program.
Both foreign stars and local artists will take part in the 21st edition of the festival. The concerts will take place at the VEF Culture Palace, the music house Daile, the Jersika Records Stage at art center Noass on the AB dam, as well as the culture space M/Darbnīca in the von Stricka villa quarter.
Grammy nominees, the powerful global music supergroup Bokanté will perform at VEF Culture Palace on July 2, and on July 3 – Spanish saxophonist and singer Antonio Lizana, who plays in the new flamenco style.
“It is our first time in the city and almost our first international tour after this pandemic times, so we are super excited to have the opportunity to share our music with everybody in Riga,” says Antonio. “Our idea is to make a concert were you can feel from the roots of the flamenco to the deepness of contemporary jazz music, with this intention we are travelling with our full band, with two flamenco dancers, a flamenco guitar and a jazz quartet...”
Riga Jazz Allstars with pianist Viktors Ritovs and young singer Saija Paula will perform at the music house Daile on July 1, Lithuanian modern jazz masters Shinkarenko Jazz 4N together with the colorful singer Ned, on July 2, and pianist Kristaps Vanadziņš with his musical friends, including the owner of the strong voice Ieva Kerēvica, on July 3.
Jersika Records Stage will operate at the art center Noass on the AB dam, where publicly available showcases by Latvian and Lithuanian artists, which will be presented to music industry professionals and prestigious mass media journalists from abroad, will be available for pulic as well. On Jersika Records Stage will perform the jazz poetry project klausies and pianist Kristaps Vanadziņš Trio on July 2, while the vinyl DJ set will be offered by Mareks Ameriks, the founder of Jersika Records, and on July 3 will perform guitarist Jānis Ruņģis, Lithuanian saxophonist duo Liudas Mockunas / Arvydas Kazlauskas, as well as vibrophonist Miķelis Dzenuška with the band Uzvaras bulvāris.
In the von Strick villa quarter, in cooperation with the culture space M/Darbnīca, a special satellite program of the festival and the official jam sessions of Rīgas Ritmi 2021 will take place together with saxophonist Toms Rudzinskis, double bassist Toms Poišs, drummer Ivars Arutyunyan and other Latvian jazz musicians. At the festival’s satellite program on the M/Darbnīca terrace will perform the pianist Rūdolfs Macats Quartet on June 30, the pianist Toms Mikāls trio on July 1, the Finnish pianist Tuomo Uusitalo trio and the pianist Gatis Breijers’ sextet on July 2, and drummer Ivars Arutyunyan quartet on July 3.
Assessing the artistic program and organizational quality, as well as its importance in the international community, in May of this year, the European Festival Association repeatedly awarded the prestigious quality label EFFE Label to the festival Rīgas Ritmi.
Organizers of Rīgas Ritmi 2021 – Contemporary Music Center – expresses gratitude to the festival supporters: Riga City Council, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation, Tele 2, US Embassy, Embassy of the Italian Republic, Latvenergo, Turkish Airlines and Audi Latvia.
Festival website: http://www.rigasritmi.lv
