The twenty-seventh edition of the “Ban Jazz Festival“ starts this evening on the central square in the mountain town, BTA reported.
The traditional festival, part of Bansko's summer program, will be opened at 20:00 with a concert by Kamelia Todorova, Vasil Petrov and the Big Band of the National Music Academy under the baton of Mikhail Yosifov.
On the first night of the “Ban Jazz Festival" the audience will also hear the guitarist and composer Michel Sahrawi from Israel, who combines the jazz of Western culture with the rhythms of the Middle East. The winner of several awards “Grammy“ Jason Miles with his “Lisbon 4tet“.
From today until August 10, a number of Bulgarian and international jazz artists will perform on the stage of the festival. Among them are the Bulgarian pianist Asen Doykin, who will present his project Eastern Passage, Camila George, Anna Arco, Peter Bernstein, Emmett Cohen and many others.
On the last night of this year's edition – August 10, for the first time on the stage of the “Ban Jazz Festival" musicians from Indonesia will perform – “Vertigong”, the organizers say. After them, Theo Crocker – contemporary American jazz trumpeter, composer, producer and singer, nominated for a “Grammy”. The final concert is of the Senegalese bass virtuoso, composer and singer Alyun Wade.
In the twenty-seventh edition of the “Ban Jazz Festival” 135 artists from 18 countries will participate, who will have 23 concerts. There will be 21 daily concerts, with 45 participants from three countries. The festival includes 18 international projects, four joint and five Bulgarian, according to the organizers.
And this year the guests of the festival will be able to see the country's first permanent jazz – exposition in the community center “Nikola Vaptsarov“ in Bansko, the organizers say. For another year, the festival foresees an accompanying program with family games, a stage in the park, afternoon jazz improvisations on the streets of the city, a jam session and meetings with the audience.
Within the framework of the festival, an open-air sculpture exhibition "Music in stone" will be held, supported by the National Fund "Culture". The result of the plein air will be the creation of the Jazz Alley, and one of the sculptures will be of the founder of the festival in Bansko, Dr. Emil Iliev.