The Squid's Ear Magazine


Mockuno NuClear: Drop It (NoBusiness)

Studio recordings and one live track from Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas' trio with fellow homelanders, pianist Dmitrij Golovanov and drummer Marijus Aleksa, extended free jazz balancing heavy and beautiful approaches to improv.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Liudas Mockunas-soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone

Dmitrij Golovanov-piano, keys

Marijus Aleksa-drums

Vytis Nivinskas-bass

Darius Rudis-drums


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UPC: 4779022071843

Label: NoBusiness
Catalog ID: NBCD 37
Squidco Product Code: 15649

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2011
Country: Lithuania
Packaging: Jewel Tray
Tracks 1, 2, 7 and 8 recorded at MAMA studios in Vilnius, 2011. Track 4 recorded at Jazz Kablys Club in Vilnius, 2011. Tracks 3, 5 and 6 recorded at M.K. Ciurlionis Gymnasium Theatre Hall in 2008. All tracks recorded by Arunas Zujus.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Studio recordings and one live track from Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas trio with fellow homelanders, pianist Dmitrij Golovanov and drummer Marijus Aleksa, extended free jazz balancing heavy and beautiful approaches to improv.



"This is the first album of this trio with my homeland musicians. The music balances in between improv and composed, between heavy and beautiful, between jazz and whatever...

I've been playing most of these tunes with different ensembles of mine during the last 6 years, but they have never been released for different reasons. I realized - to be able to move on you really have to finish your unfinished work... Here it is. Enjoy!"-Liudas Mockūnas


Artist Biographies

"Liudas Mockūnas (b. 1976) is a representative of modern creative and free avant-garde jazz, his music obliterates the boundaries between jazz and academic music. Exploring the nature of sound and the potential of overtones, he has developed his own playing style saturated with multiphonic techniques. According to the critics, "this reed player works with highly unorthodox mixtures, with sounds ranging from expressive instrumental burnouts over filmic horror to apocalypse-hymns and transcendent bells. His music may be unpredictable with an energizing mixture of free jazz, lyricism and mid-European expressionism."

The musician's education is both in jazz and classical fields. A graduate of M.K.Čiurlionis School of Arts, he received his master's degree from the Lithuanian Academy of Music in 2002 (under Vladimir Chekasin). In 2005 he received Jazz Performance Masters from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He has further perfected his skills and knowledge through a number of courses and private lessons.The saxophonist has accumulated a solid stage experience. He started playing jazz as a child of eight and made his stage debut in 1988 with the Youth Jazz Ensemble led by Vladimir Chekasin. From the age of 15 he has constantly been part of jazz festivals and emerged as a leader in 1996; he has performed with numerous Lithuanian jazz musicians.

Liudas Mockūnas truly merits the name of Lithuanian jazz ambassador. He is constantly involved in international projects both as initiator and member of different groups. His international collaborations were given a new impetus when in 1999 he started his studies in Copenhagen. In 2000 he and the Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg founded a highly acclaimed group Toxikum, their self-titled album in Denmark was hailed Jazz Discovery of the Year 2004.

A co-leader of the groups Red Planet, Baltic Trio, Artomic, and Revolver, he also collaborates with the Copenhagen Art Ensemble, Pierre Dørge and his New Jungle Orchestra. He has played with the Swinging Europe Big Band and has participated in the La Villet Jazz Festival's international big band project with the World Saxophone Quartet. Mockūnas has also collaborated with Marc Ducret, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Mats Eilertsen, Jaak Sooäär, Mikko Innanen, Jeff Arnal, Dietrich Eichmann, Scott Colley, Ryoji Hojito, Nasheet Waits, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Speed, Mike Svoboda and Andrew Hill. With different groups Mockūnas has performed across Europe, in the USA and China. In 2004 he initiated Traffic Quartet, a group of Lithuanian musicians (Valerijus Ramoška, Liudas Mockūnas, Eugenijus Kanevičius and Arkady Gotesman).

Liudas Mockūnas is a winner of a number of competitions. In 1993 and 1995 he became laureate of Juozas Pakalnis Wind Players Competition; in 1993 and 1995 he participated in the "Berklee in Germany" workshops (led by Gary Burton) and was granted a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music (USA). In 2000 he received the second prizes from Brilliant Note, an international saxophonists' competition in Latvia, and the international jazz soloists' competition in Klaipeda. In 2001 the MAP trio (Liudas Mockūnas, Jacob Anderskov and Stefan Pasborg) won the European improvisational music competition in France. His achievement in music was recognized by the Mūzų Malūnas Prize in 2004, and by the Vilnius Jazz Festival Prize "For Contribution into Lithuanian Jazz Culture" in 2006.

Liudas Mockūnas also performs contemporary classical repertoire (pieces by Bronius Kutavičius, Algirdas Martinaitis, Remigijus Merkelys and others). He has performed with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra and the Gaida Ensemble. He also composes music for theatre and cinema. Since 2004 he teaches at the Jazz Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre."

-Music Information Centre Lithuania (http://www.mic.lt/en/database/jazz/composers-artists/mockunas/#bio)
4/28/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Dmitrij Golovanov (born 1983) is one of the most captivating and prolific jazz pianists, composers and teachers in Lithuania. With his skill at handling the grand piano, keyboard instruments and computers, and being well acquainted with the history of jazz, he creates a singular style, from jazz classics to distinctive creative and experimental electronic music. A versatile musician, Golovanov moves freely between genres and projects, but he is most interested in performing original compositions, which show him to be both a contemplative and a witty artist.

The pianist's debut on the jazz scene was at the age of only 12. At the age of 17, and while still at school, he performed to great critical acclaim at the international festival Vilnius Jazz with the band Jazz Pictures, made up of his contemporaries, which became the youngest band in the history of the festival. Since then, Golovanov's career has been steadily progressing.

A graduate of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, he is currently studying at Leipzig's F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre. His discography comprises over ten albums, in four of which he features as a leader or a co-leader. In 2014, he released the solo CD ME. The pianist plays solo and with various groups, including the free jazz trio Infiltrators, the Veronika ChiChi Quartet (with his singer wife), and the international quartet Tree Stones, which brought together jazz artists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. He also collaborates with the improvisation theatre Kitas kampas (Another Angle).

Golovanov has performed with various collectives at festivals such as the London Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz, Jazz Jamboree, Leipzig Jazz Tage, Brugge Jazz and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and he has participated as a solo jazz artist in the Montreux Solo Jazz Piano Competition (semi-finals) and the European Jazz Competition (finals)."

-Lithuanian Culture Website (https://english.lithuanianculture.lt/lithuanian-culture-guide/music/2018/07/02/dmitrij-golovanov/)
4/28/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Prelude 7:07

2. Prelude Variation 1 2:39

3. The Cursed (Prelude Variation 2) 4:07

4. The Dark Side / The Bright Side (The Bright Side Is Dedicated To Andrew Hill) 11:22

5. How To Earn Money 7:53

6. Elephant Tango 5:52

7. Drop It 8:24

8. Take It 3:29

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
European Improv, Free Jazz & Related
Quintet Recordings
Instant Rewards

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NoBusiness.


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