Music
Marialy Pacheco (Cuba) and Joo Kraus (Germany)!
About this event
On September 12, 2026, exceptional jazz musicians Marialy Pacheco (Cuba) and Joo Kraus (Germany) will perform in Kaunas!
Great news for all fans of inspiring, authentic, and masterfully performed jazz!
On September 12 (Saturday) at 6:00 PM, a unique concert will take place in Kaunas, at the cozy Kaunas State Philharmonic (E. Ožeškienės St. 12), which boasts fantastic acoustics. This soulful performance will leave a wonderful festive mood for all listeners for a long time!
The pianist Marialy Pacheco, well-known and beloved by art fans, has performed in Lithuania several times together with excellent percussionists: Moroccan Rhani Krija (from Sting's band) and Colombian Miguel Altamar. This time, the piano virtuoso will perform alongside the talented and original trumpeter Joo Kraus from Germany. Marialy, born in Cuba, plays the piano divinely and looks like a supermodel! (a magical combination, isn't it?).
Jazz critics write about her: "She can play classical music, loves the blues, Monk and Ellington, and she can swing like 100 devils!"
Marialy Pacheco plays the way she looks - wonderfully! Those who think this is just a musical-geographical component, just Cuba and the Caribbean, and expect her to interpret salsa, are mistaken. Marialy Pacheco has a distinctive "percussive" style that immediately reminds one of Keith Jarrett and creates melodic lines that stem from Oscar Peterson's performance manner.
It is impressive how she weaves percussion into swing, while maintaining a wonderful softness of touch, creating depth and sparkling pleasure. It is no surprise that she was the first woman to win the prestigious Montreux Jazz Piano Competition and became the first jazz pianist in the world to be officially named a "Bösendorfer Artist". Her concert program features original music, as well as arrangements of works by composers such as Eliseo Grenet, Ernesto Lecuona, and others.
A chance encounter with virtuoso trumpeter Joo Kraus was exceptionally successful. J. Kraus arrived as if from another jazz planet; his element was funk-jazz and the sound of club music. At the age of 19, he won first place in the German national competition "Jugend Musiziert". In the early 90s, together with bassist Helmut Hattler, he founded the world-famous hip-hop duo "Tab Two". The use of computers and programmable effects was a breakthrough in music at the time, especially in jazz.
Joo Kraus, among other things, recorded an album in Havana inspired by Cuban rhythms, "Sueño", and arranged Michael Jackson's songs in an intricate jazz style, while maintaining respect for the King of Pop's work! In 2013, he won the "Echo Jazz" award as the best trumpeter, and this was already the sixth "golden disc" awarded to him by the German Jazz Association for his solo album "Public Jazz Lounge"!
