Remis Rančys - soprano saxophone, melodion, voice, guitar, alto flute

Richardas Banys - piano, kalimba

Purnamasi Yogamaya ( Eglė Sirvydytė ) - voice ( 2, 5, 8 )

Paulius Adomėnas - bass guitar, voice

Gediminas Stankevičius - drums, percussion

Vadim Stankevičius - guitar, guitarlele ( 1, 7, 10 )


Music composed by Remis Rančys

Sound production by Artūras Bieliauskas and Paulius Trijonis.

Art cover by Remis Rančys

Music was recorded on 3-4 November 2020 in Šiauliai Theatre, Lithuania.

this recording was supported by the Lithuanian Council For Culture

On the Breeze towards the light with Remis Rančys

There are many musicians, who use the language of jazz to demonstrate their musical mastery. Musicians, who seek new ways of shocking and surprising in every step. But only a few personalities, creators, use the language of jazz as a means to turn negative into positive, a means to change the charge of objects and concepts.
Such is Remis Rančys. Musician of few and far in between. Saxophone player, multi-instrumentalist, whose ego does not shout out “look at me!”, “this is what I can do” whilst he plays. Creator, who prioritises (extra)ordinary joy, borne out of music, lived through music, with music, over a complex concept. Capable of enduring the hardest of times.
Whether it would be traditional swing, reborn and reliving popularity along with The Schwings Band lead by Remis, or solo projects, educational activities, producing, journeys travelled across the most distant corners of the world inseparable from the musical content, each creative movement’s motion vector leads towards happiness and light. Exceptionally difficult lead without the use of the cheapest musical clichés and banalities.
It is always easier to complete such a journey on the breeze. On the Breeze with those, who are going the same way. On The Breeze – it is the newest original Remis Rančys’s programme, which has spun its way around concerts in various shapes and forms for a few years, then settled into such a unique recording for the first time. Unique, as it is not a sound, but also a video recording – along with those, who are going the same way, the composer’s video concert is presented.
On The Breeze – is a new album, with contributions from many famous Lithuanian music personalities: vocalist Eglė Sirvydytė, pianist Richardas Banys, bassist Paulius Adomėnas, drummer Gediminas Stankevičius, video story creators the Wide Wings. All of them – artists of differing genres, inspirations, cultures. Someone upon hearing African or Asian traditional music motifs will say world, someone will say ethno, I hear reggae, look, there’s cumbia! And everything fits neatly together under the wide umbrella of jazz.
It is the first such album for my ears, where Remis Rančys has revealed his full multi-instrumentalist talent. Saxophones, flutes, melodion, piano, even guitar conform to the thoughts and hands of the author in the pieces heard on On the Breeze.
The time we are living through – is special. The psychological consequences of quarantines, bad news, constant fear, will be felt for a long time. Wise people keep telling us, that the power of music in such situations is truly great. Knowing this all too well, I dare say, that On the Breeze, the whole inspiring example of Remis Rančys’s music is not just a collection of pretty melodies, but a dose of sun and joy, which can be vital.
Musician, music critic Domantas Razauskas



1. Buriuotojai - Sailors
On temporariness.
Like sailors we stop in a harbour and then we carry on,
to the majesty of the sea, not even knowing if we will ever come back.
 
2. Tyliau - Garsiau - Softer - Louder 
About the stupid surrounding noises,
that keep trying to draw our attention.
 
3. Midi 
Or: The Cosmic Audit. 
The senior auditor of our Earth travels here, from another planet.
He flies around our planet, seeing all that we have done...
 
4. Lygumai - Flatness
Lithuanian autumn melody about the calmness and the plains.
Lygumai (literal translation Flatness) is a small town near the road
Pakruojis — Šiauliai. There at the end of a flat landscape not far from the road
the Lygumai church steeple, looking like a rocket, can be seen.

 
5. Žalia - Green
In Lithuanian, with Eglė, about the greenness
and the beauty of the surrounding nature.
 
6. Pavėjui - On The Breeze
When you look out the window whilst playing piano and there the wind is moving the trees…
It feels like your apartment along with the piano — are like some airship flying around the world.
 
7. Shcumbia
Why not?
Lithuanians play pseudo cumbia
with a lyrical tango melodion.
 
8. Iš Aukštai - From High Above
it is said, that some essence within the human being does not change from early childhood until the very last breath.
 
9. Kacew
A musical tribute to Romain Gary
from the neighbouring Basanavičius street.
Kacew was the real Romain Gary’s name.
 
10. Sunshine
A happy melody and a memory about friends from Mozambique and Senegal,
with whom we would organise concert tours across the Baltic states. 
 
11. Vasara - Summer
Brazil and the traditional music of this country is my love.
Even if I haven’t ever been there.