site.btaBansko Jazz Festival Celebrates 28th Year with International Line-Up

Jazz is an inseparable part of Bansko’s atmosphere, Bansko Mayor Stoycho Banenski said at the opening of the 28th edition of the Bansko Jazz Festival on Friday.

For 28 years now, the jazz festival has served as Bansko’s calling card to the world, Banenski said at the start of the event. The mayor noted that the decision by Dr Emil Iliev nearly three decades ago to create “this celebration here” was not a random one. “That choice, prompted by the spirit of Bansko, is proof that when a dream is pure, its roots grow deep.”

According to Banenski, in Bansko, jazz finds its natural home, and music is an inseparable part of the town’s atmosphere.

The festival would not be possible without the tremendous support of the local community, the mayor added, pointing out that the greater part of this cultural event is financed by the municipality, from the taxes paid by Bansko’s people. “This is their gift to you, a symbol of our hospitality and shared wealth,” Banenski said in his welcoming address.

Despite the rain that fell over Bansko almost until the very start of the festival, the town’s central square was filled with hundreds of people. Banenski described the rain that evening as “a quiet but meaningful blessing” and “an answer to a prayer.” His comment referred to the fire that had raged for days in the Pirin Mountains near Ilindentsi.

“After challenging days, when fires burned beyond the mountain and smoke obscured the horizon, filling our streets and causing concern, the sky now brings us rain instead of fire. We are grateful for this relief,” Banenski said, hoping the festival will be as eagerly awaited and appreciated as the rain.

The festival’s programme opened with Hristo Yotsov and the All-Star Big Band. This is Yotsov’s newest project, featuring musicians well known and loved by Bulgarian audiences. Pieces by Yotsov were performed, ranging from his earliest works, written in the early 1980s, to his latest, created in 2020.

At the beginning of the festival, Yotsov welcomed the audience and said that the Bansko Jazz Festival is important, enduring, and has created a huge following over the years. “It actually created festival tourism in Bulgaria,” Yotsov said, and thanked all those in the square in Bansko that evening who support the music.

Alongside Hristo Yotsov in the All-Star Big Band were: Mihail Yosifov, Georgi Stoykov, Ivaylo Blagoev, and Alex Vitkov (trumpets), Velislav Stoyanov, Ivan Melin, Max Stoyanov, and Dimitar Stoev (trombones), Ivan Dimitrov, Kristian Krastev, Arnau Garrofe, Ivan Ivanov (North Macedonia), and Venelin Georgiev (saxophones), Boris Taslev (bass), Nikolay Kostadinov (piano), Krasimir Zafirov (guitar), and Tsanyo Tsvetkov (percussion).

On the Bansko Jazz Festival stage that evening also appeared pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley with his John Beasley Trio, which includes Daryl Hall and Nicolas Viccaro. Beasley, a two-time Grammy award-winner with a total of 12 nominations, told journalists before the festival began that he chose Bansko over the festival in Newport. He also spoke about his impressions of Bansko, sharing that he could not wait to take the festival stage and also to explore more of the town and the mountains.

Asked what makes a jazz festival good, Beasley offered a retrospective of jazz history. Jazz is a young genre, created in the 1920s, only a hundred years ago, and in that time has progressed, its evolution has been like the speed of light, said the double Grammy winner. He noted that during the same period, humanity experienced the invention of airplanes, cars, including electric vehicles, the emergence of computers, and two world wars. Jazz also evolved significantly during this time. According to Beasley, the ability to narrate the story of jazz, capture its evolution, and look to its future defines a successful jazz festival. He believes that involving local musicians is crucial, and the participation of artists from the United States and Africa, the birthplace of jazz, creates a dynamic mix that strengthens the festival.

On the festival stage, John Beasley and his trio set out to get the audience dancing.

The Bansko Jazz Festival is taking place from August 1 to 10. BTA is the event’s media partner.