International Jazz Festival Dr. Emil Iliev
From the 2nd to 7th of August, Borovets will host the International Jazz Festival Dr. Emil Iliev, again with an irresistible combination of jazz rhythms and fresh mountain air in front of the Rila Hotel.
The festival will feature 7 world-famous bands, as well as several individual performers visiting the music scene in Bulgaria for the first time. Guests will enjoy musicians from Portugal, Indonesia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Hungary and others. Here are some of the notable musicians and bands:
- JUST VOX, Belgium, who use their timbres to reproduce the sounds of guitar, bass, trumpet and keyboards, and their beatboxer on vocal percussion to sound like a full orchestra.
- Shuffle Demons - some of Canada's most talented musicians.
- Trio RYMDEN are one of the highlights of the festival. The bassist and drummer are from the famous E.S.T. - Esbjørn Svensson Three, and will captivate us with modern Scandinavian jazz.
- JACOB KARLZON TRIO, Sweden, are also one of the festival's most special guest artists.
- The Hungarian Párniczky Quartet, known for many tours in Europe and the United States. In 2023 they are showing a whole new repertoire and album.
The Bulgarian jazz bands also feature foreign voices, and here are some of them:
- Trio Konstantin Kostov, Bulgarians and Poles performing Polish rhythms.
- Kornazov & Dupas Quartet - trombonist Georgi Kornazov and Armel Dupas on piano.
- IRE VAZQUEZ & LOS PAPIS with percussionist Kalin Veliyov and Cuban pianist and singer Ire Vazquez - a combination of Latin songs and rhythms.
Traditionally, the festival will be opened by the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band conducted by Antony Donchev, with soloists Vasil Petrov and 16-year-old Valeria Stoyanova. Immediately after them, we will enjoy a group from Indonesia KEUBITBIT, with instruments specific to their region - seurune kale (flute) and Rapa'i (percussion instrument). Lina Rodrigues from Portugal will perform soul music and fado.
"Classics in Jazz" is a section that this year will be with The 5/4 Tango ensemble, created by pianist Lyudmil Angelov.
There will again be a rock band - JEREMY?, who perform their own compositions at many festivals around the world. This is the first Bulgarian band to win a gold medal at the People's Voice Award international composition competition with the song "Fake Fruits".
The traditional accompanying program of jam sessions will be held at the After Eleven Nightclub of The Rila.
Other highlights of the program include: summer jazz academy for children with Miriam Mavrova, karate demonstration lessons with Dr. Krassimir Zhelyazkov, book and author presentations - this year’s guests will be Vladimir Zarev and Mirela Ivanova.
You can see the program here:
| August, 2, Friday | BNR BIG BAND with VASIL PETROV & VALERIA STOYANOVA (Bulgaria) KEUBITBIT (Indonesia) LINA (Portugal) |
| August, 3, Saturday | KONSTANTIN KOSTOV TRIO (Bulgaria/Poland) RYMDEN TRIO (Sweden/Norway) BINGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Bulgaria) |
| August, 4, Sunday | 5/4 TANGO ENSEMBLE (Bulgaria) IRE VAZQUES & LOS PAPIS (Cuba/Bulgaria) |
| August, 5, Monday | JEREMY? (Bulgaria) JACOB KARLZON TRIO (Sweden/Denmark) SHUFFLE DEMONS (Canada) |
| August, 6, Tuesday | NOISE LINGUISTIX (Bulgaria) PARNICZKY QUARTET (Hungary) JUST VOX (Belgium) |
| August, 7, Wednesday | KORNAZOV/DUPAS QUARTET (Bulgaria/France) JIVE ACES & Soloists LAURA B & ALAN POWER (UK) |