Last year these well known Lithuanian jazz musicians who have performed together for almost ten years were attempting to realize their new musical ideas through the duet medium, this affording not only excellent opportunities for developing a subtle sense of ensemble, but also for displaying individual virtuosity. The experiment was successful: they performed a very colourful composition during the Vilnius Jazz festival last year. This composition was called Parallel Lines and recorded on a CD that will be presented during the Vilnius Jazz 2001 festival.

The keyboard artist and composer, Dainius Pulauskas, has played with the Oktava Ensemble since 1981, and since 1990 has been an active participant on the Lithuanian jazz scene, working with a great many Lithuanian jazz musicians. Since 1994 he has led a quintet, and since 1996 a sextet. He has been able to put draw together one of the most brilliant and active Lithuanian jazz ensembles to play leader music, producing with this ensemble three CDs in an amazingly short period of time: Penetration, 1999 and Autumn Suite.

Dainius Pulauskas stands out for his individualist and intriguing approach to composition, his enviable technique, wide-ranging skills on electronic instruments, and his ability to balance acoustic and electronic timbres, bringing out the full colour of the music space that envelops them. He has participated in festivals all over Europe, as well as in Asia (China), with various groups. Pulauskas was awarded the Bravo Award in 1998 as the best Lithuanian jazz musician, winning the following year, together with his sextet and the singer, Neda, the Grand Prix at the international Yesterday - Pärnu '99. His output this year earned him the Grand Prix at the Birstonas Jazz Festival.

Dainius Pulauskas' constant concert partner is the trumpeter, Valerijus Ramoska, who studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music. Valerijus has been playing jazz now since 1990, and is one of the most active of Lithuania's jazz virtuosi. Besides his work as a soloist in the Lithuanian Radio and Television Big Band, and his place in the Dainius Pulauskas Sextet, he plays with Egidijus Buozis, Danielius Praspaliauskis, Vytautas Labutis, Vladimir Chekasin, Vladimir Tarasov, Petras Vysniauskas, Skirmantas Sasnauskas, and others. He has participated with the ensembles mentioned above at festivals in Russia, Estonia, Germany, France, Finland and China. Since 1994 he has been a permanent member of the Dainius Pulauskas group. Besides all this, Valerijus finds time to teach at Vilnius Conservatoiry, appearing with the Academy's Student Band at this year's Birstonas Jazz Festival. Valerijus added to his discography this year with an album of duets performed jointly with the pianist, E Buozis entitled, Solos & Duos. Dainius Pulauskas and Valerijus Ramoska are presenting at this years Vilnius Jazz Festival a joint composition written specially for the Festival. In this composition colours and contrasts are created with the aid of acoustic and electronic sounds. "In the solo sections of the piece the limitless fantasy of the musicians is given full sway, opening up for the audience whole new musical dimensions."