Summer is the season of holidays, long hot days and inviting nights when jazz fans welcome the heat of the weather and the music and if this is so, A to JazZ Festival was the hottest jazz event in Sofia this summer. Launched in 2011 by a handful of devoted Bulgarian followers of Louis Armstrong with the generous support of America for Bulgaria Foundation, the festival opened the summer music season in Bulgaria’s capital city.
This year’s sixth edition of the festival ran from July 7 to July 9 at Sofia’s South Park 2 with the participation of a constellation of jazz stars such as Robert Glasper, an American keyboard player and record producer with five Grammies on his wall; virtuoso Christian McBride and his band CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE’S NEW JAWN; the Swedish trio DIRTY LOOPS, whose pop music interpretations just blow your mind (just listen to their version of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance and you’ll see what we mean).
This year’s sixth edition of the festival ran from July 7 to July 9 at Sofia’s South Park 2 with the participation of a constellation of jazz stars such as Robert Glasper, an American keyboard player and record producer with five Grammies on his wall; virtuoso Christian McBride and his band CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE’S NEW JAWN; the Swedish trio DIRTY LOOPS, whose pop music interpretations just blow your mind (just listen to their version of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance and you’ll see what we mean).
The program of the festival was well complemented by the Spanish band MASTRETTA, FUNKXPRESS – a young fusion band from Salzburg, the UVIRA/BRUNO/HAFIZI, etc.
The Bulgarian jazz tradition was represented by the Big Band with the Pop and Jazz Department of the National Music Academy, led by conductor Mihail Yosifov, along with young bands like
Romaneno and Jazzaniza. The latter offer an interesting combination of traditional Bulgarian folklore music and jazz motifs. Charming jazz starlet Dorothy Takev, sometimes called the Bulgarian Nelly Furtado, was one of the must-see artists on this year’s program.
The Bulgarian jazz tradition was represented by the Big Band with the Pop and Jazz Department of the National Music Academy, led by conductor Mihail Yosifov, along with young bands like
Romaneno and Jazzaniza. The latter offer an interesting combination of traditional Bulgarian folklore music and jazz motifs. Charming jazz starlet Dorothy Takev, sometimes called the Bulgarian Nelly Furtado, was one of the must-see artists on this year’s program.
Here are some photos of the 2017 event on the official Facebook page.
