The jazz festival in Plovdiv is inviting friends and fans to its jazz events from 31 October till 2 November. As always the concerts are taking place at the Boris Christoff culture house in the city. Each one of the jazz nights has its own theme, the programme features renowned musicians, new projects and lots of enjoyable music.
Having been created in 2015, the festival is one of the youngest jazz forums in the country.
”From the very start we have been working with several world agencies which put their trust in us, agencies working in this domain, with this style of music,” says jazz singer Miroslava Katsarova, artistic director of Plovdiv Jazz Fest. “They are not among the “mammoth” agencies in the business, they are independent and represent some of the biggest names whom we greatly admire. The people we work with know Bulgaria very well – for example at the conferences organized by Petar Dimitrov as part of the A to Jazz festival. These people are so impressed by the fact that we have chosen to organize a festival of a form of art which is expensive even though we live in one of the poorest countries of Europe.”
Here is Miroslava Katsarova with more about the festival and the accompanying programme:
“Ladies in jazz” is one of the highlights in the programme this year. That is the name we have given to the first night. We open the jazz festival with a concert by Maria Joao – one of the world’s top jazz singers. She will be performing with her long-time stage partner – Mario Laginha. Spectacular, very unconventional and colourful… The second concert is by Linda May Han Oh and her quartet. Some time ago I listened to her perform in London with Pat Metheny’s last band. Playing with him is, in itself a major achievement. She is a bassist, she was born in Malaysia, grew up in Australia and lives and works in New York. A fascinating composer. I think she will be the big discovery at the jazz festival in Plovdiv.
The second evening is guitarists’ night with the Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio, representing the young generation of musicians. Kurt Rosenwinkel has partnered up with different musicians though he follows a path all his own. His concert is right before the concert by John Scofield. We shall be able to hear Scofield perform together with Jon Cleary – both have been awarded Grammies. Clerary is British but lives in New Orleans because he is a researche
