Kestutis Vaiginis Music

Kęstutis Vaiginis – saxophones, compositions

Joonas Haavisto – piano, Fender Rhodes, compositions

Mus išleidžia Eight Islands, vines iš žymiausių Japonijos label’ų.

Album Story:

You may think of “moonlight bridge” at first, but the idea and symbolism of MOON BRIDGE are much deeper. It comes from Japanese architecture. The Moon Bridge is actually a bridge in the shape of a half circle, and it makes a full circle with the water. I think this idea would describe our symbiosis perfectly. We’re like brothers. We complement each other in a natural way.

It’s also been said that the Moon Bridge symbolizes connectedness; it’s a passageway to peace, and that’s what we need more than ever.  Our two nations have shared the same kind of history. People have had to live in uncertainty and face injustice and violence. Still, we try to make peace and build bridges, in our case with music.

– Joonas Haavisto

Kestutis Vaiginis and Joonas Haavisto are among the most renowned jazz musicians from Lithuania and Finland. The story of these outstanding musicians goes back to 2006, when they met in Lithuania at one of the biggest piano competitions Jazz Improvizacija, where Joonas participated and won the 1st prize.

After that, Vaiginis and Haavisto started rehearsing and performing together and quickly established a strong musical bond. For more than 15 years they have been performing as a duo, a quartet, and as soloists for chamber orchestras. Both musicians also lead their own groups and have performed worldwide at venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club NY, the Tokyo Jazz Festival, and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

The Moon Bridge album features mostly original compositions by Vaiginis and Haavisto, as well as two jazz standards by Wayne Shorter and Billy Strayhorn. The duo’s sound ranges from sacred spaces to wild flacks with different combinations of a grand piano, Fender Rhodes, soprano, and tenor saxophones. The dynamic duo of Nordic and Baltic gives the listener crystal clear melodies and melancholy with some wild bubbling grooves.

The album Moon Bridge was recorded in October 2022 at Rainbow Studio in Oslo, Norway.