Matīss Akuraters (born June 7, 1982 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) is a Latvian musician-

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

. He is considered one of the best percussionists in Latvia. Akuraters's parents: mother Ieva Akuratere is a well-known Latvian musician; father Sergejs Akuraters is a photographer. In his childhood Matīss Akuraters studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

in music school. Akuraters's professional musical career began at age of 16 when he started collaboration with hip hop artists such as Gustavo and Ozols. Later he and his friends DJ Krii and Elvi formed their own hiphop crew "Ritmiņš", in which Akuraters played an Mc role. They recorded songs and played concerts all around the Latvia. In age of 18 he began studying

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, and his first instrument turn out to be the

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

- well known Indian percussion. Akuraters learned the tabla in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, UK centre and also from

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician, drummer, percussionist - Brian Melvin. In year 2003 the band Lidojošais Paklājs (The Flying Carpet) is being formed. In year 2004 for three years Matīss Akuraters was performing in Gaļina Poļiščuka's musical play "Pūt Vējiņi" at the

Latvian National Theatre The Latvian National Theatre ( lv, Latvijas Nacionālais teātris) is one of the leading professional theatres in Latvia. The building is in the Eclectic style and is an architectural and artistic monument. The country of Latvia was proclaimed ...

. This play took part in many foreign theatre festivals in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, where the play got award for best music. Love for percussion led Matīss Akuraters to rich world of Brazilian music. He was fascinated by Brazil's culture so much that in year 2008 he finally fulfilled his dream and went to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to improve his percussionist skills and learn Brazilian culture. Akuraters spent three months in Brazil,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, meeting great artists and contributing his percussion skills at local percussionists community authority- Jaguara, who is a percussionist of current samba king- Zeca Pagodinho. Akuraters also learned from Rio's carioca, famous sambista Andreazo and local percussionist from Brasilia Tiago Loei. A few months later after returning from Brazil, Matīss Akuraters organized a Brazilian percussion workshops in Riga and invited Tiago Loei and Andreazo to participate. After successful workshops they formed a group of percussionists- "Afro Brasilian Drums". Matīss Akuraters was participating in various recordings and played with well-known Latvian musicians and bands such as: Haralds Sīmanis, Amber(Aija Vītoliņa), Aivars Hermanis, Ieva Akuratere, Ilze Grunte, El Mars, Samba de Riga, Forshpil, Lidojošais Paklājs (The Flying Carpet), 7th Floor, Diana Pīrāgs, Afro Brazilian Drums. In year 2008 "Lidojošais Paklājs" (The Flying Carpet) won the nomination- best alternative music album in Latvian Music Awards for the album "Lidojošais Paklājs". In 2012, Matīss Akuraters joined Latvian indie-rock band Them Lemons as a drummer. The band is not currently active. In 2014 recorded CD with choir "Mūza" and went on tour in France, Provence. In 2014 joined Guitarist Gatis Ziema to record an album, currently band is on high demand, playing live concerts in 2015. Matiss recently returned from India where he spent 5 months deepening his knowledge of playing tabla.

References

*(Latvian/ English) http://matissakuraters.wordpress.com Personal blog of Matīss Akuraters *(Latvian) http://www.diena.lv/lat/izklaide/muzika/muzikas_zinas/brazilijas-saule-latvijas-cilvekiem Interview with Matīss Akuraters in daily newspaper "Diena" *(Latvian) http://www.nra.lv/zinas/28885-matiss-akuraters-muzikis-pec-parliecibas.htm Interview with Matīss Akuraters in magazine "Patiesie Stāsti"

External links

Gatis Ziema at Nabaklab
-YouTube video
The Flying Carpet concert
-YouTube video
The Flying Carpet at Poetry Days 2008 in Limbaži
YouTube video
El Mars "Craving Images"- performance in Tallinn
- YouTube video
Samba De Riga homepage

Listen The Flying Carpet in social network

Listen Afro Brasilian Drums in social network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akuraters, Matiss 1982 births Living people Musicians from Riga Percussionists