Gediminas Karkauskas is both a jazz and classically trained pianist based in Dublin for the past 20 years. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, and completed his Masters in the DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama. Since arriving in Dublin, Gediminas has made many trips back to continental Europe to appear in concert venues and Jazz Festivals, including many invitations to perform at the Baltic Jazz festivals in his native Lithuania. Gediminas has contributed to many notable concerts in Ireland including a performance at the National Concert Hall with Louis Stewart in 2015. He has performed at various Jazz Festivals in Ireland, including Kilkenny Jazz, Cork Guinness Jazz and many more. His most recent concert in April 2022 at St. Ann’s Church, Dublin, saw the well-received launch of his debut album Lost Suite.
Lost Suite, a concept recording, is a jazz album with classical influences, a poetic form which gives space for improvisation within a contemporary jazz framework. The music projects a modern feel, but rules are broken, the harmonic order is shifted to the limits, often to the point of near collapse of the melody line, but still retains its melodic recognition. The aim was to project strong emotional feelings of the past and present, to be thought provoking; a sense of darkness with clear focus. As the improvisatory themes develop, the tension and release ebbs and flows: “I want to bring the listener on a journey; a mood captured and expressed through musical narrative. That narrative is one of surprise turns, anticipation, a journey with an unknown conclusion.”