“The emotion is strong and the excitement – huge. This is the fifth edition of this magnificent festival; we welcome on the same stage so many talented Bulgarian and foreign musicians, which is a great responsibility. Me and my colleagues, we are sworn fans of A to JazZ – we come every year and the fact that we are opening it this year is a great pleasure. It has been gathering incredible musicians in Sofia over the years that the audience has seen for free – this makes it a unique forum.”

Now let’s get back to how the idea for A to JazZ came to life.

“We decided to present jazz on an emblematic spot downtown Sofia, such as the Doctors’ Garden,” the festival's founder Petar Dimitrov said. “Thus that aristocratic green spot turned into the first stage of the festival. Situated right in front of the music school, it has had a direct connection with its students for decades. So, step by step we reached the fifth edition of the festival.”

During the magnificent renditions of Slavena Daskalova and Jazz Orpheus, Bozhidar Vassilev from DAYO told us more on the band, whose name means Joy is Coming, translated from Ethiopian:

“We gathered in October 2014. It all happened spontaneously and now there are five of us. It’s only recently that we found out that we would be playing at that festival. We are really happy with that invitation, as the headliners are our favorites and they have had a great impact on our music. Roy Hargrove is my personal favorite. Officially the festival kicked off with Durty Purchase. The band marked its 20^th anniversary with a special program, remarkable for its eclectic approach.”

All fans were eager to meet Roy Hargrove – the US trumpet player with two Grammies on his record. His quintet closed the first night of the musical quest.

The second one brought back to life the somewhat forgotten tradition of the DJ show during the festival. This year they were Sirius & Methodical and their jazz and neo soul passion. The Zonyo & friends students from the music school got their baptism of fire then, on July 4. They were followed by the renowned Hristo Yotsov Quintet with pieces from their Jazzball project. Beautiful Beloslava added to the charm of the evening. The second night ended up just like the first one – with a Grammy winner, this time Kenny Garrett and his quintet.

Anything is Possible – that is the slogan of one of the cutest Bulgarian formations: Funky Miracle and on July 5 it was all proven onstage. The Bobo & The Gang hip-hoppers gave a bit different nuance to the final festival evening, followed by Metamformoza – yet another band that cannot be framed as a style. The entire evening boded for the entry of Jose James – world famous vocalist who flows into different styles with easiness. And how did the audience feel about the 5^th edition of the festival?

“I have visited A to JazZ for the second year in a row,” Miryana Naydenova from Sofia told us. “I do like it and I think that it offers something for everyone’s music taste. I see jazz as a universal language. I myself work on projects, related to its popularization along with the young Groove Atelier artistic organization. And last but not least – my son plays with the band of Slavena Daskalova. I attended all the evenings last year and it was a unique experience.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev