Intars Busulis Lush Life Quintet Vol. 2 – Pink Noise Riga

After a completely sold-out spring concert and standing ovations, the Pink Noise Riga music festival announces the return of Intars Busulis and the Lush Life Quintet. The quintet’s second premiere, or Vol. 2, will take place at Mūzikas nams Daile on 28 November. At the festival’s spring session, the masterful interplay between Intars Busulis and saxophonist Gints Pabērzs became one of the festival’s most moving events. Together with pianist Matīss Žilinskis, double bassist Toms Poišs and drummer Rūdolfs Dankfelds, the quintet will once again interpret and restore pearls of jazz—and not only jazz—classics with aristocratic flair.

At the first concert, listeners enjoyed pieces including “Corcovado,” “Lush Life,” “Atvadas vasarai,” “Dedicated to You,” “Nature Boy,” Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years,” “Blue Trane,” “I'm a Fool to Want You,” “Kāpēc,” “Liquid Spirit,” “Hallelujah I Love Her So,” and “Sulīgā dzīve,” a piece Matīss Žilinskis wrote especially for the quintet, with an ironic nod to Billy Strayhorn’s legendary composition and the quintet’s own name. The organisers have not yet revealed which of these pieces will remain in the Vol. 2 programme or which new gems will be added. One thing is certain: audiences can expect striking musical surprises.

The project is inspired by one of the most remarkable recordings of male vocals and tenor saxophone of all time: the legendary 1963 album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, released by Impulse! Records.

About the Pink Noise Riga festival

Pink Noise Riga is a music festival in the capital, first held in autumn 2024 with Branford Marsalis and the Latvian Radio Big Band. The festival offers a world-class mix of jazz, pop rock, fusion and contemporary improvised music. It is created by Aigars Nords—the founder of the popular city events Rimi Riga Marathon and Riga Wine & Champagne—together with the event-seasoned Nords Event Communications team and Dāvis Jurka, director of the Latvian Radio Big Band and a saxophonist. The festival’s main idea is to fill Riga with music and flair, helping Latvia’s capital and its musical charm shine more brightly on Europe’s music tourism map.

Among the festival’s standout artists to date have been Branford Marsalis and the Latvian Radio Big Band, Kamasi Washington with his band, Kārļa Auziņa Double Trio, Instrumenti, Lupa, British saxophone sensation Nubya Garcia, Three Voices—the new vocal stars of Latvia—and Intars Busulis with the Lush Life Quintet, formed especially for the festival. The festival’s 2026 finale will take place on 29 November, when the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and legendary Wynton Marsalis will make their Latvian debut at Dailes Theatre. In 2026, the festival is co-funded by the State Culture Capital Foundation and Riga City Municipality.