site.bta11th Plovdiv Jazz Fest to Be Held from November 7 to 9

The 11th Plovdiv Jazz Fest will be held from November 7 to 9 and will see the participation of Grammy Award winners, world and Bulgarian jazz musicians, the organizers from Blue M said on Monday.

The main programme of Plovdiv Jazz Fest will be opened by Hristo Yotsov, Antoni Donchev and the All-Star Big Band, which includes 20 musicians, such as Dimitar Liolev, Denis Popstoev, Arnau Farras and Vladimir Karparov. The evening will continue with Scandinavian jazz at the highest level, as the fest will be hosting the Jacob Karlzon Trio, as well as jazz singer Viktoria Tolstoy, a descendant of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, the organizers noted.

The evening of November 8 will begin with a concert by the multi-award-winning Bulgarian-American pianist and composer Milen Kirov, who arrives with a quintet of some of the best and most sought-after jazz musicians in Germany and Europe, consisting of Jakob Manz (saxophone), Marius Goldhammer (bass), Alex Bernath (drums) and Nikolay Karageorgiev (guitar). After the Milen Kirov Quintet, the famous jazz and gospel singer Liz Wright will take the stage.

The last evening of the Plovdiv Jazz Fest on November 9 is dedicated to two emblematic groups, namely Zone C, consisting of Vasil Parmakov, Stoyan Yankoulov – Stundzhi, Veselin Veselinov – Eko, Vasil Spasov and Miroslav Ivanov, and the Yellowjackets, which will close the festival this year. During its rich 48-year history, the group has received two Grammy Awards and been nominated 17 times. They have recorded 27 albums, have countless sold-out tours and have enjoyed worldwide recognition from critics and audiences. Today, the group includes Russell Ferrante (piano and keyboards), who is among the founders of the Yellowjackets, Bob Mintzer (wind instruments and EWI), Dane Alderson (bass) and Will Kennedy (drums). 

Since the establishment of the Plovdiv Jazz Fest, an integral part of it has been the Grand Prize for Overall Contribution to Jazz Music in Bulgaria, the organizers noted, adding that in 2025 its bearer will be Stoyan Yankoulov – Stundzhi for his contribution to Bulgarian jazz music and for his distinctive and unconventional way of playing drums, tambourine and percussion, with which he achieved worldwide recognition.

Concerts by young jazz musicians, jam sessions and literary readings will be held at Bee Bop Cafe as accompanying events for this year's edition of the fest, which will be hosted by trombonist Vili Stoyanov for the second year in a row.