All Reeds Duo
Vytautas Labutis – saxophones, bass clarinet
Andrius Balachovičius – accordion
Founded in 2018, the All Reeds Duo unites the creative voices of Vytautas Labutis and Andrius Balachovičius, seasoned Lithuanian masters of their instruments, whose deep experience and exceptional command of expression bring an effortless intensity and spontaneity to every performance. Their music blends jazz and accordion traditions into a fresh, unified sound full of bold contrasts, intrigue, and rich tonal color, drawing on free improvisation, swing, klezmer, Baltic folk, and cinematic moods.
Drawing on a broad stylistic spectrum, their music defies easy categorization, blending jazz with experimental tendencies into a cohesive, polystylistic whole. Central to the ensemble is its constant pursuit for equilibrium between carefully shaped arrangements and spontaneous improvisation. That's an interplay that highlights Labutis’s adventurous saxophone work (from throaty vibrato and subtle multiphonics to rapid‑fire extensions) and Balachovičius’s dynamic use of the accordion’s full range, from lush harmonies and bagpipe‑like drones to percussive effects and intricate vamps. Critics have praised the duo’s ability to move fluidly between avant‑garde intensity and infectious, dance‑floor‑ready energy, noting that they could convincingly command both an experimental club setting and a sophisticated festival stage.
In February 2025, the duo released their first album, REEDS (on vinyl), which earned a nomination for the Annual Music Award of the Lithuanian Music Association (M.A.M.A.) in the jazz category that December. The duo has already performed with solo programs at major Lithuanian festivals, including the Vilnius and Birštonas Accordion Festivals, the Vilnius Cobblestone Festival, the Vilnius Mama Jazz Festival, the Nida Jazz Festival, and the Tauragė Jazz Festival.
ALBUMS
About musicians:
Vytautas Labutis (b. 1960) began his musical path with the studies of the accordion at Balys Dvarionas Music School in Vilnius.He later turned to the saxophone studying jazz improvisation under Vladimir Chekasin. Labutis made his debut in 1982 with the Petras Vyšniauskas Quartet at Birštonas Jazz Festival and has since performed extensively across Europe, as well as in theUnited States (at the Ford Montreux Jazz Festival in Detroit), Australia, and Asia (participating in jazz festivals in China and India).Renowned for his versatility, he is a distinctive improviser, performer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader.
From 1982 to 1988, he was a member of the Petras Vyšniauskas Quartet, and since 1987 he has been a member of the Vladimir Chekasin Quartet. Since 1988, he has led the Vytautas Labutis Trio, and since 1995, he has been a member of the quintet Džiazo Nublokšti and Vilnius Jazz Quartet (which disbanded in 2010). In 1997, he founded an octet, with which he recorded his first album of original compositions, Terra Vandetuja. Among his accolades are the Grand Prix at the Birštonas 96 Jazz Festival and the first prize at 2002 Blues Marathon in Kaunas.
The saxophonist has collaborated with most of Lithuania’s leading jazz artists and ensembles, including Vladimiras Tarasovas Lithuanian Art Orchestra, the Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra, the Dainius Pulauskas Sextet, and Kaunas Bigband. For a decade, he was a member of the prestigious Jazz Baltica Ensemble (featuring such leads as David Murray, Niels Pedersen, Maria Schneider, Django Bates, and others). His international engagements include Octet Ost III, East-West Vapirov Project, the New European Saxophone Quartet, the Italian-Lithuanian Quartet (Andrea Pellegrini, Riccardo Ienna, Vytautas Labutis, Eugenijus Kanevičius, 2009). He has collaborated with St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra (Pokalbių ratas and Night in Tunisia) and was the leader the jazz ensemble Silent Blast, which consisted of his students.
Labutis has an extensive record of performing contemporary academic music. He has participated in art performances, recordings for theatre and film. He has appeared on screen in Taxi Blues (dir. Pavel Lungin), It Snows in Paradise and The Owl Mountain (dir. Audrius Juzėnas).
Since 1995, Labutis has mentored young musicians at Balys Dvarionas Music School in Vilnius and was a lecturer at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre from 2000 to 2002. His students have successfully pursued jazz studies in Europe and the United States. Today, Labutis leads his own projects while performing actively with ensembles All Reeds Duo, the Neda/Banys/Labutis Trio, Haruspic, Emeritus Jazz Quartet, and Šinkarenko Jazz5. He also collaborates with prominent Lithuanian musicians, including Vladimir Chekasin, Vladimiras Tarasovas, Arkadij Gotesman, Rokas Zubovas, Artūras Anusauskas, and Donatas Bielkauskas. In addition, he composes and performs original music in poetry and music projects alongside actors, Dalia Jankauskaitė, Pijus Ganusauskas, and poet Gytis Norvilas.
In 2025, Labutis received the international Vilnius Jazz Festival award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Lithuanian jazz.
His discography encompasses three solo albums and contributions to more than 50 recordings as a co-author, performer, or producer.
Andrius Balachovičius (b. 1980) began his musical education at Balys Dvarionas Music School in Vilnius. He later continued his studies at the Vilnius Conservatory and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. He stood out at the Lithuanian Accordion Competitions in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002, earning prizes both as a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles. Balachovičius serves as the primarius (lead accordionist) of the Modus Accordion Quintet, and has performed extensively in Germany, Italy, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia, including notable appearances at international competitions, winning the 2nd place at Premio Città di Castelfidardo competition (Italy, 1998), 1st place at thew accordion music competition in Tartu (Estonia, 1999), 2nd place at the accordion competition in Sanok (Poland, 2000), 1st place at Premio di Castelfidardo competition (Italy, 2000), 2nd place at the Valtidone International Competition (Italy, 2001), 1st place at the Contesa Tina Orsi Anguissola Scotti competition (Italy, 2001), the Grand Prix in Montese (Italy, 2002), and prizes in both the Concert Performers and Variety categories at the Stefano Bizzarri Competition (Italy, 2003).
Balachovičius has recorded concert performances in Germany and Italy, as well as for Lithuanian National Radio and Television. He frequently performs as a session musician in recording studios.
Balachovičius actively performs in Lithuania. He has participated in numerous concerts organized by the Lithuanian Musicians’
Association. He performs with various ensembles: KASP Big Band, actress Nijolė Narmontaitė, and All Reeds Duo (together with Labutis).
He also works as an educator at Balys Dvarionas Music School in Vilnius.
PRESS
Jazzwise by Martin Longley, 6 August 2025
As a kind of Saturday prelude, a pair of older players opened the proceedings, with Vytautas Labutis (soprano saxophone/bass clarinet) and Andrius Balachovičius (accordion) making a capering Balkan sway that led to a calmer second number, a meditation with stipple-breath decay, turning into a graceful waltz. Bass clarinet was coupled with an equally deep flow on the accordion.
Citizen Jazz by Mario Borroni, 15 June 2025
The musical marathon kicks off in the early afternoon with All Reeds Duo, featuring renowned saxophonist Vytautas Labutis and accordionist Andrius Balachovičius. Look no further- this duo is undeniably a cut above the rest, effortlessly transitioning from traditional tunes to bold musical explorations, treating us to a resounding success.
Musica Jazz by Aldo Gianolio, 2025
Two of these groups revolve around a key figure in Baltic jazz, the saxophonist and clarinetist Vytautas Labutis. The first is a duo with accordionist Andrius Balachovičius, himself a virtuoso, with whom he performed pieces of diverse inspiration - ranging from jazz to classical music and Lithuanian folk - in perfect harmony and with bold confidence, masterfully blended together.
7 meno dienos by Kęstutis K. Šiaulytis, 2024
As dusk fell within the walls of the Old Town, we listened to a wild duo at the festival’s opening concert, “Two Worlds” - Vytautas Labutis and Andrius Balachovičius treated us to their unique brand of jazz. The Štralis Event Hall at the Signatories’ House had never heard such exceptional music before!
Revista cultura by Virgil Mihaiu, 13 June 2022
The duo featuring the masterful saxophonist Vytautas Labutis and accordionist Andrius Balachovicius was utterly captivating from start to finish. I had seen (and even introduced) Labutis when he performed with Vladimir Chekasin’s Quartet on the stage of the Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj in the 1980s. I was delighted to see him again in top form, deftly juggling between the Lithuanian style of free jazz and the lively inflections of klezmer, polka, or bagpipe effects (achieved by simultaneously blowing into the soprano saxophone and the mouthpiece of the alto sax), alternated with rigorous unisons woven together with his congenial comrade. A dense and original performance, worthy of the most demanding stages!
Jazz SK by Peter Motyčka, 10 June 2022
Vytautas Labutis was one of Vladimir Chekasin’s first students and, as early as the 1980s, excelled in the Petras Vyšniauskas Quartet. He gradually appeared alongside nearly all prominent Baltic musicians, led his own ensembles, and participated in domestic orchestras (Vladimir Tarasov’s Lithuanian Art Orchestra, Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra, Kaunas Big Band). The combination of the soprano saxophone and the accordion aroused curiosity and, from the very first note, captivated listeners not only with its unconventional sound but also with its masterful handling of expression and the building of tension. In a series of his own compositions, Labutis surprised listeners with his breath control and almost inaudible panting.
All About Jazz by John Sharpe, 6 June 2022
Nowhere near as young, though equally catholic in their taste, was the duo of soprano saxophonist Vytautas Labutis and accordionist Andrius Balachovičius, which only got together in 2017. Perhaps as a result of being more experienced, the pair was noticeably more relaxed than many of the other groups for whom this was perhaps more of a make or break situation. Labutis readily stretched the parameters of the tunes, adding an emotional dimension with throaty vibrato which could easily edge into multiphonics, at one stage seeming as if he was intent on trying to exorcise some mischievous spirit from his horn, before snapping back on point into a klezmer air. They also evoked Parisian street music, film scores and a slinky waltz. Balachovičius exploited the accordion's capability to simulate a bagpipe drone on what turned into a beautiful folky air, which nonetheless slipped in an expedition into the weeds as Labutis blared discordantly on alto mouthpiece and soprano simultaneously. Balachovičius veered from lush harmonies to banging the side of his instrument in a primal thud, to keep up a vamp with one hand while soundtracking a jerky marionette with the other. The unlikely mix blended well in an accessible, vivacious, responsive and fun session.