They are young and inspired with a flair for invention and a sound stage experience. Jan Uvira, pianist and composer is from the Czech Republic, percussionist Martin Hafizi is from Bulgaria and Alessio Bruno, double bass player and composer, was born in Italy. The Uvira/Bruno/Hafizi Jazz Trio is on a brief Bulgarian tour which opened on 20 October in Gabrovo, and includes five further concerts.

The trio was launched in 2015, in Rotterdam, Holland. The musicians met at the Codarts University for the Arts. More about its beginning from Martin Hafizi:

 “We were brought together by the pianist, it was his idea. But once we had to give the band a name, he decided he would not follow the cliché, so he did not name the band after him but opted for a combination of all our names Uvira/Bruno/Hafizi. We are connected via theCodarts University for the Arts were we have studied and some of us still study.Jan first graduated the conservatory in Prague and then came to Holland to study in Rotterdam. Now he studies in Katowice, Poland. Double bassist Alessio is a very active musician playing with many jazz bands in Holland. Both my partners in the trio are composers by most of the pieces have been composed by Jan Uvira.”

Over the past year Martin Hafizi has been studying at Codarts, under an MA program. Apart from the Uvira/Bruno/Hafizi trio he is also active with other formations including the 4Exampble Quartet. The young musician has graduated the Lubomir Pipkov National School of Music in Sofia. His mother is Bulgarian and his father is Albanian. As a high school student he won a few prizes at competitions in Bulgaria, Spain, France and Russia. He has taken part in various international projects in the sphere of classical music.

“After all this I changed the direction of my development”, Martin says. “I decided to enroll in the Rotterdam Conservatory Faculty of Jazz with a major in percussions. I finished the four-year BA course and now I read an MA course. I developed a taste for jazz in 2012 when I had the chance to listen to Brian Blade Fellowshipin Paris. This concert inspired me greatly, I felt elated. I fell for that music. In fact my BA thesis is on the work of jazz percussionist Brian Blade. Withthe Uvira/Bruno/Hafizi trio we play contemporary jazz. Today it is very hard to specify the style but I think the definition 'contemporary jazz' fits our style best.”

On 21 October the trio plays in Veliko Tarnovo. This is followed by concerts in Stara Zagora, Haskovo and Dimitrovgrad - as part of the Youth Jazz festival in that town. The final concert of this tour of Uvira/Bruno/Hafizi Jazz Trio is on 25 October at Studio 5, Sofia.

English Daniela Konstantinova