Danielius Praspaliauskis (b. 1970) is a versatile saxophonist, playing different jazz styles as well as academic music, and experimenting with various elements of ethnic music (such as rhythmic complexities of Balkan folk, etc).
He studied at music school in Plungė and Stasys Šimkus Conservatory in Klaipėda. In 1991 he arrived in Vilnius to continue his music studies and soon became actively involved in Lithuanian jazz stage. After graduation from the Lithuanian Academy of Music (saxophone class of Petras Vyšniauskas) in 1995, he started playing abroad: at the Varna Jazz Festival in Bulgaria with Anatoly Vapirov Big Band, and the Jazz in Marciac Festival in France with his own quintet. He has also appeared with the EBU Big Band, the European Jazz Youth Orchestra, and a number of Lithuanian orchestras: the Lithuanian Radio and Television Orchestra, Kaunas Big Band and Lithuanian Art Orchestra led by Vladimir Tarasov. With different groups he has toured a number of European countries.
In 1994 he made his debut as a leader with his quartet, since then he has been organizing different groups, the Danielius Praspaliauskis Dixieland among them, and composing for them. He teamed up with his constant associate Arūnas Šlaustas to create a quintet Contra Jazz, which explores various possible connections of jazz and academic music.
He has been collaborating with the composer Linas Rimša, participated in his projects "Opera in da House", "Standard Life" and "Guerilla Jazz.lt". His saxophone often accompanies performances of pop musicians and can be heard in their albums. In 2004-05 his group was constantly featured by a TV program "Saturday Show".
Praspaliauskis has a solid experience as a performer of academic music: he has performed with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Vilnius String Quartet and the ensemble Ex tempore. He has recorded a number of works by contemporary Lithuanian composers and is a constant participant of the contemporary music festivals in Lithuania and abroad, among them, Warsaw Autumn in Poland and Caravan in Mongolia.
Over the recent years he has been performing with Contra Jazz and is a soloist of the Lithuanian Radio and Television Big Band. He also teaches music at the Lithuanian Youth Centre.
© Jūratė Kučinskaitė
