Jazz has been growing more and more popular in Bulgaria in recent years, and this is, to a great extent due to the musicians who have been presenting to the public their own, original music. They have also been gleaning invaluable experience on their world tours and from their encounters with the big names in jazz. One such prominent jazz instrumentalist is Jivko Petrov.

This year has been a particularly good year for him and for his trio JP3. The pianist released two albums, went on an extensive tour of Canada and is launching a national tour in December.

In the spring of this year Jivko Petrov released his debut solo album After 4. He says that when he was writing the ten preludes included in it, they came entirely from the heart, inspired by his own feelings and perceptions. That is the reason why the pianist surprised his fans with an album that is classical rather than jazz. Jivko says one has to reach maturity and accumulate experience to be able to compose classical pieces. The four most important things in his life are: love, equilibrium, freedom and thought and they have served as an inspiration to the talented musician for many years. Jivko Petrov still finds inspiration in his travels to the four corners of the Earth, in the wisdom that comes with maturity, he adds.

“I could well say that my tour with the After 4 album is a Christmas tour, though it actually started back in September at the Apollonia arts festival. Two months later I took part in the jazz festival in Plovdiv. Now I shall be presenting the album at Christmas concerts – in Bourgas on 2 December, then in Dobrich, Varna, Veliko Turnovo – my home town. I wind up with a concert in Sofia.”

Jivko Petrov’s trio JP3 released an album, Between the World at almost the same time. Vesselin Vesselinov a.k.a Echo, Dimiter Semov and Jivko Petrov had a national tour followed by concerts in the biggest cities of Canada. It was there that Jivko presented After 4 for the first time. Judging by the reviews, the music composed by the pianist had a powerful and very emotional effect. In this album the three musicians are joined by a string quartet. Vesselin Vesselinov also made his contribution as a composer – the two have a composition together devoted to Jaco Pastorius.

What has Jivko Petrov got lined up until the end of the year?

“On 8 December I will present After 4 in Sofia for the first time. At this concert I shall be playing pieces from the album but also some brand new compositions, including one film suite I wrote to commemorate the centenary of Bulgarian filmmaking – a music compilation of soundtracks from Bulgarian movies. And, of course, I will also be playing jazz. I have another two major projects in December. On the 15th I will have a big concert together with singer Beloslava and on the 20th I continue my project for four grand pianos Jazz Meets the Classics, in which I perform together with Angel Zaberski, Georgi Cherkin and Ivan Yanukov. The programme also features Christmas music, arranged by myself and Angel Zaberski. We shall be performing together with a chamber orchestra of the National Music School and a rhythm section – Dimiter Semov, bass and Boris Taslev, double bass."

English version: Milena Daynova