Lembit Saarsalu

Estonian saxophonist and composer, born July 8, 1948 in Roosna-Alliku, nr Paide, Estonia. Lembit became interested in jazz as a result of the international Tallinn Jazz Festival held in 1967. Determined to become a tenor saxophone player, he independently mastered the playing of the instrument. He finished Tallinn music school as a clarinet player in the class of the veteran Estonian jazzman, Alexander Ryabov. His jazz quartet made a successful debut during the Tbilsi jazz festival in 1978 and soon thereafter, the first LP was recorded. One side of the recording represented Estonian national dances and songs. For Saarsalu, the Estonian national and professional musical tradition has always remained an inspirational environment, although his ears are open to the whole world of music. He performed in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Cuba, bringing back with him impressions of musical traditions of different nations. In 1984 he met Russian pianist Leonid Vintskevich and performed at the International Jazz Festival in Prague. The following year they performed together at the Donetsk jazz festival (Ukraine) and shortly thereafter in the Berlin Festival of "Jazztage" with great success. The duo released their first recording which highlights their relationship with the national traditions, with jazz standards and with their own compositions, in 1986. Since then, seven albums have been released by Vintskevich-Saarsalu duo in Russia and Germany.