Jazz singer Vasil Petrov, loved by several generations, turns 50 on April 30. The repertoire of the famous musician is quite diverse, but he has often been called the Bulgarian Frank Sinatra through the years. The reason: not only the similar timbre of the voice, but above all the affinity he shows towards early 20 century’s jazz.

Vasil Petrov has graduated the Pop & Jazz Department of the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music. He works with prominent Bulgarian musicians – he has released an album together with pianist Rumen Toskov, he has concerts with Angel Zaberski Jr. Vasil Petrov has sung in many countries – some of the Scandinavian ones, Switzerland, Japan, Russia, the USA etc. The performer has won awards at different contests and has recorded duets with Bulgarian and foreign musicians. He is a regular participant in the Apollonia Art Fest in the Black Sea town of Sozopol and the Bansko Jazz Fest. Vasil Petrov has released several albums and now a new project is on the rise due to the jubilee.

The International Jazz Day is marked on April 30, as UNESCO officially adopted the date back in 2011, following the idea of legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock. That is why we can say that Vasil Petrov has a double occasion for celebration. Here is what the singer says on his new CD: “After the BNR proposal on an album record, we - me and my team, decided to include 5 of my own songs, composed by me and 7 evergreens,” the jazz singer says. “There are rock hits of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and the Beatles among those. I have also included a couple of Spanish songs, the cult Besame Mucho being one of those. At first the project looks eclectic, but actually the pieces have been unified by the three arrangers, working on the album – Antoni Donchev, Vassil Spasov and Angel Zaberski Jr. The lyrics of my own songs were written by Alexander Petrov and Mikhail Belchev. The album is named after me – Vassil. I think it is a really good music project, full of various pieces.”

The album consists of 12 compositions, as one of them – an American Dream has been sung in both Bulgarian and English, along with the Spectrum vocal octet. Vasil Petrov will have his concert of the JAZZiT festival on the eve of his birthday – on April 29, at the Bulgaria Hall. What else shall the audience hear there?

“I will sing almost the entire album, as well as a few older songs that the fans love,” the singer goes on to say. “Each arranger will conduct his own compositions. The Big Band of the BNR will step on the stage, along with the string section of the Symphonic Orchestra that took part in the recordings.”

The Mecho Puh children’s vocal band and the Spectrum singers will also attend the event.

Vasil Petrov is an artistic person, who not only sings, but also loves to compose, without feeling professional in the area. Another hobby of his has been speeding up for the past few years – drawing. His friends have already stimulated him on several exhibitions, as the last one is with the BNR – graphics, accompanied by renditions of his.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

The audio contains the following songs:

Predstavi Si /Imagine/

Amerikanska Mechta /American Dream/

Mozhe Bi /Maybe/