Vik who lights up the room

There is no more exhilarating music than jazz when it is performed with spirit, understanding and taste. And singer Viktorija "Vik" Gečytė is its consummate representative.

Exemplifying natural elegance and swing, this Lithuanian-born vocalist is exciting audiences from Paris to New York with her sultry voice and sophisticated style.

Seine-Saint-Denis Magazine, serving Greater Paris, calls Viktorija “a lady of jazz with an angel voice.” The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival describes her as “a class act.”

“Music gives me joy. So, of course, I smile!” says Viktorija, a Paris resident who is admired as much for the rayon de soleil, or ray of sunshine, as for her elegant flair in her performances.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day and Abbey Lincoln, Viktorija gets audiences to bond with her emotionally by creating a sense of vulnerability in her storytelling, whether she’s swinging freely on an up-tempo classic like “Lover, Come Back To Me” or exploring the depths of one of her own meditative compositions, such as "Laukų Daina".

For more than 15 years, she’s been touring, recording and co-composing songs with the eminent American bassist Gene Perla, who has worked with Elvin Jones, Sonny Rollins, Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan, among many others. Viktorija also has won over audiences at venues across Europe, including in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, Malta, Romania, and Lithuania, as well as in the wider New York area and around San Francisco in the US.

Her journey is a tale of two continents. She was 5 years old when she made her onstage debut as a singer in her hometown of Vilnius, Lithuania, and became a familiar face on national TV as a tot, displaying stage presence and vocal prowess that belied her years.

When she was 19, Viktorija took a huge step: she moved to the United States to study at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, on a scholarship. A two-hour car ride from New York City’s jazz clubs, the ambitious singer split her time between soaking up the finest jazz the Big Apple had to offer and earning her BA degree in mathematics and economics.

The endeavor paid off. After she had graduated and settled in Paris and begun performing internationally, Télérama, a French cultural magazine, commented that “it's difficult, when listening to Viktorija Gečytė, to convince yourself that she is of Lithuanian origin and did not spend her childhood in New York jazz clubs.”

Viktorija’s collaboration with Gene Perla includes three fine albums, notably “In The Moment,” which Couleurs Jazz praised as a “major record,” and 12 critically acclaimed tours.

Stepping out of her comfort zone, she co-led a big band project with French pianist Julien Coriatt, contributing as both lyricist and composer. Together, they fused jazz, classical, and folk music, resulting in the provocative album “Blue Lake.”

Some of her “Blue Lake” compositions have been rearranged for open-air concerts with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band.

Today, from Paris, she leads Vik & The Vibe Tribe, a quartet in which vibes are the only harmonic instrument. Occasionally, she also explores the tangled emotions of desire and resilience with a blues program, and is a sought-after guest singer, gracing stages from cozy duos to expansive big bands.

Viktorija adores performing for dancers and finds special joy in captivating young audiences new to jazz, who eagerly embrace the music’s power to soothe and challenge the mind while igniting the soul.

She also continues to dabble with different sounds – regularly blowing kazoo solos or experimenting with folk instruments, such as clay whistles, kalimba, balafon or chimes.

Singing, for Viktorija, is more than making music: “It’s a conversation, an endeavor, and a never-ending journey,” she says.

And as the nature of taste in jazz evolves with dizzying speed, listeners can count on hearing a timeless triple play of technical excellence, emotional depth, and singular interpretation every time this exceptional artist takes the stage.