Arkady Gotesman (b. 1959) is one of the most gifted and versatile drummers on Lithuanian jazz stage, an internationally acclaimed performer of free improvisational music.
The Ukraine born musician received his musical education there. With his arrival in Lithuania in 1979 he soon became part of Lithuania's musical life. Since 1982 he has been playing on professional stage, with the wind orchestra Trimitas and the ensemble Oktava. He started playing jazz with Gintautas Abarius Trio (1982-89). Since 1989 he has been collaborating with Petras Vyšniauskas as Petrarka Duo. In 1993 he teamed with Petras Vyšniauskas and Vyacheslav Ganelin into Trio Alliance. Since 1994 Gotesman has been playing with Dainius Pulauskas and is a regular member of his group. Arkady Gotesman has performed with numerous musicians, such as John Zorn, David Geringas, Julian Joseph, Changito, Christoph Bauman, Roland Dahinden, Jack Siron, Vladimir Volkov, Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky, Fredi Studer, Jaak Sooäär, Frank London, Anthony Coleman, Brad Jones, Charles Gayle, Dominic Duval, and nearly with all Lithuanian jazz musicians. As a soloist and group member, he has performed around Europe, in Asia, Africa and the USA. He has been featured by plenty of jazz festivals, among them Pori Jazz in 1996 (with the Trio Alliance), Beijing Jazz Festival in 1999 and JazzYatra in 2001, in India (with the Dainius Pulauskas Sextet), SKIF-5 in 2001, in St. Petersburg (with the Indian music ensemble Svara and the Dainius Pulauskas Sextet).
Arkady Gotesman divides his performer's talent between jazz and contemporary academic music. He has performed works by such composers as Horatiu Radulescu, Faustas Latėnas, Šarūnas Nakas, Vyacheslav Ganelin, Anatolijus Šenderovas (important percussion parts in his ballet "Desdemona" and music for film "Ghetto"). He also creates musical installations and experimental performances, composes music for dance and theatre productions and performs it live on stage (drama productions "Station in Town N" and "Oedipus Rex", the latter directed by Oskaras Koršunovas). He finds inspiration across the boundaries of different arts, as witnessed by his solo album "J. Brodsky in Memoriam" dedicated to the poet Joseph Brodsky, and his project with the poet Rolandas Rastauskas, "Throw". Arkady Gotesman's more important recent projects include a film "The Meeting" about Lithuanian Jews (author of the idea, director and performer), drama performance "My Life" after the poetry of Marc Chagall (author of the idea and performer), and music for the silent film "Casanova" performed with the Čiurlionis String Quartet at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall (author of the idea and performer). In 2009 he organized the Klezmer Music Festival in Vilnius - the first event of this kind in the Baltic States.
© Jūratė Kučinskaitė
