Jazztory is an educational series that presents composers and performers from the world of free music. The idea has come from jazz drummer Borislav Petrov author and host of the lectures. The first concert with a multimedia presentation was held on 6 March 2013 and was dedicated to Charlie Parker, saxophonist and composer. Jazztory events are about 20 so far. On 28 October the lecture focused on Hank Mobley, a saxophonist with a short but remarkable career. More from Borislav Petrov:

“Saxophonist Hank Mobley is little known not only in Bulgaria but across the world too. He remained in the shadow for no good reason. He was a great saxophonist as his career peaked in 1950s and 1960s. Because of illness he withdrew from the stage in the early 1970s. Mobley was discovered by drummer Art Blakey who attracted a few talented musicians for The Jazz Messengers. Hank Mobley was one of the members of the legendary band and then started a solo career. Fortunately he made many recordings and composed original music. The musicians that present the program dedicated to Hank Mobley, are my friends and associates. The saxophonist is Arnau Garrofé Farràs, a Spanmiard graduate of the conservatory ion The Hague. The band also features guitarist Alexander Logozarov and Veselin Veselinov-Eko, double bass.”

Borislav Petrov says more about the Jazztory series and its goals:

“To me Jazztory is the history of jazz in sounds and images. I try to find archival material for every topic. There are many films uploaded on the internet but most people do not have the patience to make the research. What I do is make it all concise: about 35 minutes of documentary material and the rest - live music. I aim to present jazz in the most authentic way possible. Because of communism, this music was virtually absent from Bulgaria from 1940s to the 1960s. This was the time of the greatest innovations in this genre, a time of colossal achievements in professional jazz. So, today I try to present this music with the right sound, accurate facts and the right styles. I studied and then lived in Holland for 12 years. There is advanced jazz education in that country. All big names in jazz give concerts, and the audience is jazz competent. I decided to run this project so that lovers of jazz in Bulgaria are adequately informed about its history. I plan to take Jazztory back to the early years of jazz in Bulgaria. One of the future editions will be dedicated to The Andrews Sisters, quite popular during World War 2. A friend of mine reminded me that the young generation is not aware of great names in Bulgarian jazz such as Simeon Shterev and Milcho Leviev. This is in fact the goal of the series - to fill in the gaps in the information, to debunk a few myths and to give the audience the joy of good music.”

English Daniela Konstantinova

Audio features: Jazztory

1. Deciphering the Message, by Hank Mobley in the rendition of the Jazz Messengers

2. My Sin, auithor and soloist Hank Mobley, a recording from 1965

3. Big Dipper, live recording from Jazztory dedicated to Thad Jones