Lithuanian reed hero Liudas Mockūnas led a trio in the last decade with
long-time comrade, fellow Lithuanian pianist-drummer) Arnas Mikalkėnas (who,
with Mockūnas, initiated a program in the Lithuanian Academy of Music and
Theatre, focused on improvisational and experimental music and performance),
and Norwegian drummer Håkon Berre, who released only one album (Plunged,
Barefoot, 2017). In some of its performances, this trio hosted Ukrainian
double bass player Mark Tokar (known for his collaborations with Ken
Vandermark, Joe McPhee, and Dave Rempis, as well as his services as an
active officer in the Ukrainian armed forces).
In the spring of 2024, Mockūnas, on tenor, soprano, and sopranino saxes (but
without the bass sax), Tokar, and Mikalkėnas, now on drums, toured Ukraine.
Live at the Jam Factory Art Center was recorded in Lviv in April 2024 during
the one-week tour. This working trio reunited again in July 2025 to
celebrate the release of the album.
The album offers four powerful free improvisations that resonate deeply with
the current situation of the war. Mockūnas, Tokar, and Mikalkėnas sound as
if they have been playing together all their lives with telepathic dynamics,
and their immediate synergy makes this trio larger than its parts.
The opening piece, “Fortress”, features Mockūnas employing an array of
extended breathing techniques, and often his urgent playing sounds as if he
were two reed players competing in a stimulating duel, soaring over the free
rhythmic patterns of Tokar and Mikalkėnas. The second piece, “Bagpipes
Marching”, deepens the urgent spirit, but now Mockūnas often alternates in a
hymn-like, soulful-folky tone, while Tokar and Mikalkėnas frame his singing
tone in an open but hypnotic pulse. “Ghost Town”, with Mikalkėnas on piano,
is an openly emotional, bluesy cry. This invigorating performance ends with
another spiritual, hymn-like piece, “Fanfare for Ones of a Kind”, delivered
in a typical irreverent, creative manner, with brief Ayler-ian quotes, and
demonstrating, again, that resistance, in all artistic forms, is the best
antidote to the current global horrors. Waiting anxiously for more from this
great trio.
The album is released in a 300-edition red vinyl edition, and can be
downloaded from Mockūnas’ Bandcamp page.