The festival in the resort town of Bansko, running from August 8 till August 13, has turned into one of the most significant musical events for jazz connoisseurs as well as the ordinary public.

This year the festival will be held on two stages on the town’s square, which means that the festival is completely free.

The first concert begins every day at 4pm, followed by performances into the evening. The opening features Bulgarian jazz singers Vassil Petrov and Meri Taneva singing with the Bulgarian National Radio’s Big Band, conducted by maestro Yanko Miladinov.

Next up will be the German Swing Stars, the Macedonian Tavitjan Brothers and the Bulgarian Kameliya Todorova. Bulgarian chill-out band Mind Trips will take to the second stage at 4pm.

On August 9 at 4pm there will be a performance at the Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena by a Japanese pianist and lead singer.
Also at 4pm, on the festival’s second stage, pianist Gerd Baier and percussionist Philipp Gutbrod will perform. Bulgaria’s “indecipherable-language singer” and wind instrument player Stoyan Royanov Ya-Ya will perform his inimitable show shortly afterwards.

A Serbian-Bulgarian-Polish-Israeli mixture will follow on the main stage. First on will be the Belgrade Dixieland Orchestra – a real cultural institution in Belgrade – followed by the band of Bulgarian actress-singer-TV host Nona Yotova and Poland’s high-class jazz pioneers, the Joachim Mencel Trio.

The atmosphere becomes even more cosmopolitan when the Israeli Ethnic Ensemble takes to the stage, whose five members all come from different cultural and ethnical communities, combining Eastern European, Balkan and Gypsy musical traditions.

The evening of August 10 will begin with the German 8WD Eight Wheel Drive Blues Band. With the temperature already high, Freddy Cole, brother of Eddie Cole, Ike Cole and the unforgettable Nat King Cole – and a world-class pianist and performer himself – will play with his band.

Next will be Russia’s Denis Shulgin Violin Jazz Quartet and Bulgaria’s with Amalia and Dirty Purchase.

On August 11 performers will be Bulgaria’s Dilyana Georgieva (lead singer), Simeon Shterev (flute), Antoni Donchev (piano), Georgi Donchev (bass) and Dimitar Semov (drums). Next will be Japan’s Soon Kim Quartet.

Then comes the turn of the US and Germany with Side Steps, finishing in Belgium with Orchestre International du Vetex. The latter includes musicians from Belgium and Northern France, mixing punk, rock n roll and Balkan and Latino rhythms, among others.

Bansko Jazz Festival’s next evening, August 12, is dedicated to Europe. First up, the Austrians from Mary Poppins will perform their mixture of reggae, soul and jazz.

Bulgarian jazz legend Milcho Leviev, Vicky Almazidou and Georgios Kontrafouris will set a tone for the joint international performances, which will lead to the Dutch-Bulgarian joint venture, Tarhana, featuring Teodosii Spasov. Spaniards from Barcelona Zulu 9.30 will offer Bansko a mixture of energetic reggae, salsa and hip-hop.

The festival’s climax will be marked by Hilda Kazasyan (lead singer), Roumen Toskov (piano), Hristo Yotsov (percussion), Teodosii Spasov (kaval), Petar Slavchev (lead singer), Vesselin Vesselinov (contrabass) performing film music and Dutch singer Giovanca, who says she’s inspired by the sounds of the city.

There will also be a mixture of oriental jazz, fusion and rock mixture from the Egyptian group Eftekasat and musical experiments from the Greek group Palyrria.

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