The jazz singer has performed together with practically all celebrated jazz musicians in this country – Angel Zaberski Jr. and Vasil Parmakov - piano, Shibil Benev and Alexander Kumanov – guitar, Pepi Slavov Jr., Georgi Donchev and Dimitar Shanov – double bass, Petar Momchev – saxophone and many more.

Having graduated jazz singing at the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, Marina Gospodinova now lectures jazz singing at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. The singer has been involved in several successful projects in recent years. One of them is “Jazz Sings in Bulgarian”, in which she performs together with Antoni Donchev – piano, Ventsi Blagoev – trumpet, the man who came up with the idea for the project, and poetess Maria Doneva. She attaches special significance to the “Golden Age of Jazz” series, in which she sings songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Etta Jones, Ray Charles… The project was launched in 2016 and the idea was to pay tribute to some of the most prominent musicians in the history of the genre, musicians whose songs are sung to this day.

“They were sung in the years between the two world wars when jazz developed into something so much more than music - a social phenomenon that shaped the worldview of several generations,” Marina says. “It is the kind of music that inspires optimism, a sense of magic and grace.”

“The Golden Age of Jazz grew to be a very popular project,” she says. “I am happy to say that, to my own surprise, what I had envisioned in my boldest dreams came to fruition. Some time ago I decided quite spontaneously, to put together a programme in which I sing music familiar to any jazz performer. I know there are people who have never been to a jazz concert. But if they are interested in this kind of music, I think that “The Golden Age…” will give them a very good start. They will be able to hear popular songs emblematic of every performer whose name is on the programme. With the very first concert it became apparent that the music was eliciting a very warm reaction. It was obvious people needed an experience like this. The audience coming to the concerts is made up of people of different ages – I see lots of young people, middle-aged people… And even though we usually perform the programme at clubs, I see people are listening very carefully, as if they are at a concert, and that is a very pleasant surprise. Through the years we have been developing the idea, adding songs, I have invited different guest soloists. At tomorrow’s concert our guest performer will be trumpet player Mihail Yosifov – a really interesting musician. The concert will gain a lot from his individuality.”

On 2 February, Saturday, Marina Gospodinova will present “The Golden Age of Jazz” in the National Palace of Culture’s Studio No. 5, together with Milen Kukosharov – piano, Dimitar Karamfilov – double bass, Atanas Popov – drums.

English version: Milena Daynova