Mayor Milkov launched "Jazz Ruse Fest 2024"

Friday, 15 November 2024

On the Main Stage of the Dokhodno zdanie, the two-day "Jazz Ruse Fest 2024" began tonight, during which emblematic musicians will perform in front of the Ruse audience. The beginning of the festival was given by the mayor Pencho Milkov. The event is organized by the Municipality of Ruse, with the support of the Municipal Enterprise "Ruse Art", the Club of Cultural Workers in Ruse, "Dunarit" Ltd, "Utro" newspaper, Schlager Radio, UniCo Ltd., Ruse Jazz College, Max club Ruse.

 "Ruse is proud of many first things in its history, but one of them, which no other city can boast of, is jazz. It is a great honor for me to be on this stage tonight and to welcome so many stars of jazz music. I can immodestly say that today and tomorrow Ruse is becoming the jazz capital of Bulgaria," the mayor addressed the audience in the crowded Great Hall. He expressed special thanks to Teodosii Spasov, who is also the program director of the festival.

On the first festival evening, the musicians from "Zhivko Petrov Trio" stuck on the stage. Petrov is one of the most prominent Bulgarian jazz pianists and composers, Dimitar Semov is a drummer, percussionist and composer, and Dimitar Karamfilov is among the most sought-after concert and studio double bass players in Bulgaria.

The evening continues with the Artur Dutkiewicz Trio, in which the prominent Polish pianist Artur Dutkiewicz, double bass player Michal Baranski and drummer Sebastian Kuchczynski play. After the concerts, the "RJS Quartet" opens a jam session at Max Club at 10:00 p.m. The quartet includes Bulgarian musicians Anatoly Angelov /saxophone/, Svetoslav Nedelchev /bass/, Alexander Atanasov /guitar/ and Lazar Benov /drums/, who combine classical jazz with contemporary elements.

Tomorrow, November 16 /Saturday/ the festival continues with performances by the duo Tihomir Hoysak - double bass, and Filip Novosel - tambura. They are joined by drummer Jean John / Žan Tetičkovič - drums.

The emblematic Big Band Ruse will offer traditional jazz with a large line-up of professional musicians. The charismatic Hilda Kazasyan will perform popular jazz standards and new interpretations. The line-up also includes Vasil Petrov – one of the most prominent Bulgarian jazz singers; Theodosii Spasov – a virtuoso of the kaval, who weaves ethno motifs into jazz compositions, creating a unique sound.

The festival ends with a jam session with Caner Kaptan Trio at Max club at 10:00 p.m. The trio includes Caner Kaptan - bass, Petar Petrov - piano and Svilen Nachev - drums.

Earlier today, the exhibition "Faces of Jazz" was opened in the lobby of the Profitable Building, which includes photographs from previous editions of "Jazz Ruse Fest 2024". They are mostly the work of the Ruse photographer and musician Petar Stamenkov, and archival footage from the Club of Cultural Workers is also used. The exposition will remain for those wishing to see it until November 27.

The host of the festival is Miroslava Katsarova - a jazz singer who hosts shows on radio "Jazz FM".

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