Rising steady, even before releasing her first solo album, charismatic vocalist Egle Petrosiute has earned her place in the Dutch and international jazz scene. Gifted with a warm distinctive sound and curiosity “to study like an instrumentalist, born in a Lithuanian family of jazz lovers Egle recalls singing along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and many more since as early as her memory goes. Now a master alumna of the Conservatory of Amsterdam she sings in a wide spectrum of projects – from traditional, contemporary, Brazilian jazz, fusion collectives to instrumentally virtuosic orchestral arrangements – constantly travelling Europe and Brazil.
Petrosiute moved to the Netherlands in 2012 to pursue a career in jazz. She was fortunate to study with the Dutch jazz greats such as Lydia Van Dam, Jarmo Hoogendijk, John Ruocco, Martijn van Iterson and Joris Roelofs to name a few and soon started developing her own taste and approach to music. She started performing in various jazz settings, venues and festivals mostly with her Egle Petrosiute Group, a world music band Samba da Minha Terra and Fernando Paiva Group (with whom she performs to this day).
With own bands and as a guest singer Petrosiute has already performed on a variety of stages and festivals in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Hungary, Sweden, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Portugal and Brazil. She has had chances to sing with several great orchestras, namely Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra, Vilnius Jazz Orchestra, LRT Light Music Orchestra, The Magic Time Orchestra, Amstel Big Band and the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. The project “BRAZILIAN WORLD MUSIC” with UPPER AUSTRIAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA and Fernando Paiva continues, so Petrosiute regularly travels to perform in Austria.
In her upcoming CD “BIRD’S NOTES” that features Kiko Freitas (Best Drummer in World Music 2019, Modern Drummer Magazine) the vocalist reveals her undiscovered sides – a capable arranger, lyricist, composer, producer and leader of her septet. Produced with her husband, virtuoso bassist from Brazil, Matheus Nicolaiewsky, this album is a mix of Egle’s original songs and arrangements of compositions by Brazilian masters. Egle sees her musical world as a blend of American and Brazilian influences now arranged with a feminine and lyrical touch. Highly textured and easy to listen at the same time. Why? Because staying melodic in every aspect is of utmost importance to Egle. “I want audiences to be able to sing along with those intertwining melodies” – she says.