21st Century Quintet is a progressive jazz band formed in 2019 at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. The group unites five talented young musicians who are active performers on both the Lithuanian and international jazz scenes. What started as an accompaniment for a drum exam soon led to a performance in the “Jazz Scene” competition at Kaunas Jazz and an ongoing presence in jazz festivals across the country.
Over the past six years, the quintet has performed at major festivals such as Vilnius Jazz, Vilnius Mama Jazz, Klaipėda Castle Jazz Festival, MO Museum Christmas, as well as internationally at Jazz Fest (Norway), Jazz’Chisinau (Moldova), and Guoyu pa Jazz (Latvia). In March 2024, they released their debut album “On Ararat”, inspired by Armenian folk, progressive jazz-rock, fusion, and blues. LRT jazz host Laima Slepkovaitė described the group as “a proud example of Lithuanian jazz among Europe’s rising young talents.”
Davit Avetisyan – saxophonist, founder and leader of the group. His compositions blend Armenian folk motifs with jazz improvisation. He performs on soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, as well as the traditional Armenian duduk.
Andrius Savčenko – pianist and composer. He studied in Lithuania and the Netherlands, performed at Canarias Jazz and Amersfoort Jazz with Leonid Šinkarenko, and collaborates with BIPLAN, Vilnius JJazz Ensemble, KJ Collective, and others.
Danielius Skeivelas – guitarist and winner of the “Guitar Madness” competition. He plays with groups such as “Chalat Jazz”, “Let Alone”, and the folk-inspired “Robaksai”, performing at various jazz, blues, and rock festivals.
Artūrs Duckis – bassist from Latvia. A classically trained double bassist, he has performed with Veronika ChiChi, Arkady Gotesman, Dmitrij Golovanov, Kęstutis Vaiginis, and others at major Lithuanian jazz festivals.
Mihails Novikovs – drummer from Latvia, trained under Arkady Gotesman. He has collaborated with well-known Lithuanian artists and performed at Vilnius Mama Jazz, Trondheim Jazz Fest, and JAZZ’n’CHIȘINĂU. In 2023, he won the DrumDay2023 Tamsta competition.
