Arvydas Jofė (b. 1957) is one of the most creative Lithuanian drummers, whose style is characterized by exceptional vitality and resourceful combination of acoustic and electronic drums enhanced by his unique voice. Besides performing with different groups, he has also given a number of solo programs.
He learned piano at Kaunas Music School and started playing drums at the age of 14. His musical career started with rock groups Bildukai, Nuogi ant slenksčio, Kadencija; later on he played with the ensemble Oktava. While a student at Klaipėda Department of the Lithuanian State Conservatory (1975-79), he started playing jazz with Saulius Šiaučiulis Ensemble and Pranas Narušis Big Band. After graduation he taught at Klaipėda Department and led the big band Versmė.
In 1983 he returned to Kaunas and played with the electronic music group Argo. He was a member of Romualdas Grabštas Quartet in 1984-86, and of Vladimir Chekasin Quartet in 1986-92. The drummer has been collaborating with Vytautas Labutis, Oleg Molokoyedov, Gintautas Abarius, Aleksandr Fedotov, Eugenijus Kanevičius, Artūras Chalikovas and others. In 1992 he made his debut as a soloist. He has performed across Lithuania and abroad, with different groups and solo.
In recent years Arvydas Jofė has been playing with the Lithuanian Jazz Trio, the group granted in 2004 the LT Identity award of the Lithuanian Institute for promoting Lithuanian jazz. With the Lithuanian Jazz Trio the drummer has been featured by the Jazz Expo in Genoa, Italy (2004), and the International Music Fair MIDEM in Cannes, France (2005). He is also a member of Jazz Brothers, led by Artūras Chalikovas, and a drummer of Kaunas Big Band.
© Jūratė Kučinskaitė
