Four nights of Plovdiv Jazz Fest with Gretchen Parlato and Grammy winner Taylor Eigsti, Yildiz Ibrahimova, Emmett Cohen, David Dorantes and Yaz Ahmed

04 November | 20:00 | Boris Hristov House of Culture

Concert by Yaz Ahmed

05 November | 20:00 | Boris Hristov House of Culture

Concert by Yildiz Ibrahimova

Concert by Emmet Cohen

06 November | 20:00 | Boris Hristov House of Culture

Concert by David Dorantes 

07 November | 20:00 | Boris Hristov House of Culture

Concert by Gretchen Parlato  

A guest appearance by the world's Gretchen Parlato, together with Grammy winner Taylor Eigsti; a celebration of the 70th anniversary of Yildiz Ibrahimova and her great importance for jazz music in Bulgaria; a focus on pianists in jazz and, of course, some of the young stars of the international jazz scene - this is how one can briefly describe the eighth Plovdiv Jazz Fest, which will take place from 04 and 07 November at the Boris Hristov House of Culture in Plovdiv. The pandemic was the reason for the festival to seriously limit its program in the last two years. In 2022, however, the event is back with a much bigger programme: concerts over four days and an accompanying programme. Tickets for all concerts are now on sale on the Eventim network.

Maintaining its approach of inviting some of the most attractive and interesting young jazz musicians, one of the biggest jazz festivals in the country will open with a concert by Yaz Ahmed, a trumpeter of British-Bahraini origin. She will be performing with her quartet. Music critics note that her work is unlike anything you've listened to. Her experimental music attempts to blur the lines between jazz and electronic sound design, and what she does on stage has been described as heady psychedelic Arabic jazz. She has released three albums and her concert schedule includes various parts of the world. Yaz Ahmed has worked with Radiohead, Lee Scratch Perry, Transglobal Underground, Arturo O'Farrill, Natasha Atlas and others. She has been part of the world tour of These New Puritan. Yaz Ahmed has been nominated by the prestigious US magazine DownBeat for "Trumpeter of the Year" and was named "Rising Trumpet Star" in 2020. She was honored with two of Jazz FM's prestigious 2020 awards in the categories of Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. Yaz Ahmed is also the recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Innovation. "I hope that through music I can bring people together, build bridges between cultures and change the perception of women in jazz and the heritage of people from the Middle East," says the trumpeter. Yaz Ahmed's concert will be on November 4 at 8pm.

The following day (05 November) will start with Yildiz Ibrahimova's concert together with Zhivko Petrov, Veselin Veselinov-Eko and Hristo Yotsov. This year the singer celebrates her 70th anniversary. Plovdiv Jazz Fest will present her with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to jazz music, paying a great tribute to her long and remarkable career. Yildiz Ibrahimova is one of the most important names in the history of Bulgarian jazz, but her impressive creative biography goes well beyond the borders of Bulgaria. She began singing at the age of 10 and subsequently graduated from music school. Before turning to jazz music, Yildiz Ibrahimova graduated from the Music Academy in Sofia with a degree in opera singing. Her voice is known to possess a unique range that spans four octaves. Yildiz Ibrahimova made her debut in 1975 with the jazz quartet of Mario Stanchev. She performed with the formations Jazz Line, Acoustic Version and was briefly a soloist with Theodosius Spasov on White, Green, Red. She has won many awards and has performed in over 30 countries around the world.

Immediately following her on stage will be one of the most recognizable and modern young jazz musicians today. With tours all over the world, American jazz pianist and composer Emmett Cohen includes Plovdiv Jazz Fest in his busy schedule. He is one of the central figures of his generation in jazz music. He has played and recorded with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart and others. Cohen began playing at the age of 3 using the Suzuki method. Emmett Cohen will be a guest at the Plovdiv Jazz Fest with his trio.

The last concert (on 07 November) of the 2022 festival programme will feature American jazz singer and songwriter Gretchen Parlato. She is deservedly regarded as one of the most inventive and mesmerising singers today. In 2021, Gretchen Parlato released her new album FLOR, a tribute to Brazilian music and her first studio album in nearly ten years. The album also brought Parlato her second Grammy nomination for "Best Vocal Album" and has been described as a wonderful fusion of American popular music, European classical music and Brazilian standards. An important theme in it is motherhood, which was the reason for the singer's temporary retirement from the music world.

Gretchen Parlato has participated in over 85 albums and has released four albums as a leader. She was first nominated for a Grammy in 2013. Her 2011 album The Lost and Found, on the other hand, received over 30 national and international awards, including DownBeat magazine's award for "Best Vocal Album". While still a student, she sang with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, further collaborating with many musicians including Marcus Miller and Ayrto Moreira.

Gretchen Parlato arrives in Plovdiv with her band, part of which is one of the most interesting contemporary pianists, Taylor Eigsty, who won this year's Grammy for "Best Contemporary Instrumental Album".

Plovdiv Jazz Fest is organized by Blue M.

The event is supported by Plovdiv Municipality and is part of the Cultural Calendar of Plovdiv Municipality for 2022.

The concerts of Emmet Cohen and Yaz Ahmed are supported by the Ministry of Culture.

David Peña Dorantes' visit is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Bulgaria.