For three nights, the beautiful Bulgarian city of Rousse, situated on the bank of the Danube, hosts the 42nd edition of the Rousse Jazz Festival. This is the oldest Bulgarian jazz forum created by Petar Petrov – The Piece, back in 1978. After his death in 2013 the tradition was continued by his son - saxophone player Boris Petrov. What can jazz lovers expect from the festival in the period November 16 to November 18?

“The program this year starts with Angel Zaberski quintet,” Boris Petrov says. “I have been working with him for 25-30 years and I am very familiar with his talent as a composer. He mostly writes for big bands, but of course, chamber compositions are also among his priorities. In this case, he would perform in a quintet, together with Mikhail Yosifov-trumpet, Stoyan Yankulov - percussion, Boris Taslev - double bass and me. The audience will hear his treatment of the Nessun dorma aria from Puccini's Turandot. In another play, "Sweet Savory", Angel has mixed jazz and folklore, while "Hip-Hop Reggae" is a very different play. So the program of Angel Zaberski Quintet at the Rousse Jazz Festival is very diverse and rich. I have tried to structure the evenings stylistically. Another quintet will perform on November 16. ‘Horizons’ is a joint French-Bulgarian project presented by Georgi Kornazov (trombone). He has been living and working in France for more than 25 years and is now visiting Rousse with French musicians - Geoffroy Tamisier - trumpet, Manu Codjia - guitar, Mark Buronfosse - bass and Christophe Marguet - percussion. Georgi Kornazov has been a soloists of the the big band of the Bulgarian National Radio and is now becoming one of the most prominent jazz composers.”

Bulgarian-French participation will continue during the second night of the festival as singer Maggie Alexieva - May will perform together with Jean-Charles Battistella – piano, Thomas Cordogli - bass and Alexandre Gauthier - percussion. Before them people will see on the stage Funkalero - a native funk formation created by the pianist Vasil Spasov. The band includes Dimitar Lyolev - saxophone, Miroslav Ivanov - guitar, Radoslav Slavchev - bass and Georgi Barkov - drums.

The conductor of the Big Band of the Bulgarian National Radio, Antony Donchev, is a frequent guest at our jazz festival, Boris Petrov adds. He will play with his 3UP formation, but in this case the band is a quartet so it will be 4 UP, consisting of Rosen Zahariev - Roco - trumpet, Mihail Ivanov - double bass and Atanas Popov - drums. Misho is a young musician, a very talented bass player who has lived and worked for several years in Italy. Now for the first time he will participate in the Rousse Jazz Festival. The event will end with the Spanish band Patax, which will present fiery flamenco rhythms mixed with jazz immersing the audience in strong emotions typical of Spanish culture.

English: Alеxander Markov