Chris Thile and Kurt Rosenwinkel impress at the Viljandi Guitar Festival

Chris Thile just can't believe it. Here he is for the first time in Estonia, and the concert hall is full. The US mandolin wizard shows what he can do on his instrument at the Viljandi Guitar Festival. The audience is totally enthusiastic about him and even sings along to a piece he composed. He puts Bach next to Bartók and gives a Radiohead number his own personal touch. You have to like the fact that someone who plays solo mandolin on stage for an hour and a half, occasionally accompanying himself with vocals, intones fiddle tunes and otherwise comes across as very folkloristic.

This performance shows quite clearly is that this festival, which celebrates its 15th birthday this year, wants to be open to many musical genres, not purely jazz - even if the festival founder and director, Ain Agan, is himself a jazz guitarist.

Of course, there is also good jazz to be heard in the pretty little town of Viljandi. For example, from the young Estonian guitarist Jaagup Jürgel with his trio and entertaining sounds from his own pieces and jazz standards. Last year, Jürgel won the Tiit Paulus Young Guitarist Award, which is presented annually at the festival. He comes from the region and studied in Tartu. That kind of regional connection is also what makes this festival special.

Janno Trump from Estonia's capital Tallinn brought his Clarity Ensemble to present the first album of this unusual formation, Up North, which was released in the spring. Why he pairs the instrumentation of a piano trio with a string quartet with this band, which is given a lot of space, the bassist himself can't really explain. He simply loves arranging, says the likeable musician when asked. His flowing jazz numbers are wonderfully arranged, permeated by a Nordic aesthetic, and they leave their chamber music framework every now and then to groove funkily.

Two Brazilians on two guitars, one acoustic, the other an electric guitar, Daniel Santiago & Pedro Martins enchant in the Estonian Traditional Music Centre, the main venue of the festival, completed in 2008. A building with a long history, located right next to the ruins of the city's old castle complex, it now offers two good-sounding (concert) halls and a library in the basement (the centre also organises the annual Viljandi Folk Music Festival, which is known far beyond the country's borders). It is there in the large hall of the centre, the two Brazilians sit to play tender, touching sounds that don't want to fit into the clichés of Brazilian music at all. How their playing complements and interlocks with each other is beautiful. It's no wonder that US guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel (pictured above), who ends the evening with his formidable trio and imaginative, highly individual interpretations of jazz standards at the highest level, has put the two Brazilians on his own label Heartcore Records.

In the Fellin café-restaurant in the heart of the city, the finely swinging Estonian gypsy jazz quartet Titoks played on the opening evening. Not only is this place really cosy with its casual, bohemian vibe, it's also delicious to eat there. The Michelin Guide has even given it a positive rating. In the evening jam sessions, young students from the local music academy show off their skills in the equally hip Mulks cellar wine bar. Viljandi is a city of culture and music, and this is audible here as well.