Vilnius Mama Jazz has already presented the brightest new-age British jazz talents to Lithuanian audiences. This year is no exception. The two musical nuggets, who will take to the stage in Vilnius as a duo and who go by their first names, have been described as "London's friendliest jazz revolutionaries".
And it's a perfectly valid description - Binker & Moses break new barriers of creativity with each album and are highly respected by musicians and music lovers alike far beyond the British Isles.
Binker Golding on saxophone and Moses Boyd on drums reflect the musical philosophy of today. They don't stick to one genre - both musicians' work is in a wide range of genres, from jazz to rap and electronic sounds. They are like travellers with a map and a plan, but never afraid to look around if the view out of the car window proves intriguing enough.
Both musicians of the duo, who have released four albums, have been successful together and separately. Moses Boyd's Dark Matter, for example, was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize for Best Album of the Year by a British or Irish Musician in 2020 - alongside stars such as Dua Lipa, Stormzy and, ultimately, the award-winning singer Michael Kiwanuka.
The musician is also the frontman of Exodus, a record label, DJ, producer and radio presenter who has worked with an impressive constellation of artists from jazz and other genres, from Beyonce and rapper Little Simz to electronic music visionaries Floating Points and Four Tet.
Celebrating a decade of their career together, this year the duo of Binker and Moses have achieved many heights in their career. Their four albums have earned glowing reviews from critics, and the duo's collection includes MOBO and Jazz FM awards (as well as the title of Britain's Best Jazz Artist, which they won back in 2016).
A remarkable achievement for a duo that met under rather comical circumstances.
Binker and Moses' musical experiences are somewhat similar. Both (at different times) played in Tomorrow's Warriors, a band regarded as a forge and incubator of new British musical talent.
But that's not where they met - rehearsing for a concert by the (now deceased) US trumpeter Abram Wilson, which was to take place in the Slovakian city of Bratislava.
Moses, who was 16 at the time, joined the band at the last moment, when the drummer who was supposed to play was in jail.
The rehearsals went well, but in the end Boyd didn't make it to the gig because someone on the tour team forgot to change the name on the plane ticket.
A few years later, this strange acquaintance turned into a common musical inclination, which from the very first recordings surprised even jazz listeners who had heard it all.
The duo's first album, Dem Ones (2015), experimented with a fusion of jazz and grime (a British form of rap). The second, Journey To The Mountain Of Forever (2017), featured fairytale-esque themes.
The band's most recent work to date, Feeding The Machine (2022), was recorded at legendary rock singer Peter Gabriel's studio Real World, with the help of electronic music creator Max Luthert.
Jazz, minimalism, ambient sounds, hints of oriental rhythms - the album reaffirmed Binker & Moses' reputation as one of the leading figures in British jazz today.
With British musicians increasingly dictating the fashions and directions of jazz in Europe over the past dozen years, this concert seems particularly relevant to the festival's programme. It is music that shows the paths that jazz can take today and tomorrow, when it is not constrained by frames and stereotypes.
Project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality.
