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Sofia’s yellow paving stones… To some they are the traditional paving stones that were laid down in several streets in the city centre in 1907-1908. To others they are the symbol of the “heart of Sofia”. And the latter would be right. Imported from Austria-Hungary, the yellow paving blocks appeared almost simultaneously in front of the buildings of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the Central Covered Market, the St. Alexander Nevski cathedral etc.

Meters from the yellow brick zone, the Bulgarian Army theatre is now the venue of a music festival that is comparatively new – the Sofia Brick Roads Music Festival; its second edition will take place on October 9 and 10. The highlight this year is the Spanish influence in jazz, ethno and world music.

Artistic director of the Sofia Brick Roads Music Festival is Theodosii Spassov, recently named UNESCO Artist for Peace, organizer of the event is Ivan Minchev:

“The participants in the festival were selected by its artistic director Theodosii Spassov. When he was thinking the programme over, he never would have thought he would be given this honorary distinction - UNESCO Artist for Peace - but he did compile an intriguing mosaic of performers, very different in terms of origin and

Edmar Castaneda

energy,” says Ivan Minchev. “The performers lined up for the first night are Edmar Castaneda Trio – the musicians come from Colombia, Chile and USA. Edmar plays the harp – a very unorthodox and rare instrument in jazz. He is just 36 but has managed to firmly establish the harp as a leading instrument in all formations he plays with. In his hands it sounds more like a percussion instrument with original improvisations. The trio also features American saxophone player Shlomo Cohen and drummer Rodrigo Vilalon from Chile. The concert by the Martinez Brothers & Hristo Yotsov Project is also on October 9. Though they may be Spanish, the brothers Miguel and Juan live in the Netherlands where they are very popular. Both play the saxophone; for years they have developed different ideas together with renowned Bulgarian drummer Prof. Yotsov. They will share the festival stage with Rob van Bavel, a pianist from Holland and Vesselin Vesselinov-Eco, double bass. An original Cuban sound with a whiff of Europe – that is how the music of Ramon Valle Trio Cuba & Elsa Valle can be described.

Ramon Valle

Ramon is a pianist and is regarded as an heir to Chucho Valdés. He has graduated the music academy in Havana but lives in Europe and has three albums to his name. Ramon Valle has taken part in a host of music festivals – the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Festival, the London Jazz Festival to mention but a few. But perhaps the most notable name on the festival lineup is David Dorantes. We are lucky that he has a joint project with Theodosii and it is thanks to that project that he is back in Bulgaria. Theodosii and David have had a dozen concerts in Spain and other European countries. His album Sin Muros (Without walls), released in 2012 was sold out in three days – a very rare occurrence. His name came into the limelight when he took part in Carlos Saura’s Flamenco, Flamenco. The group also features an incredible flamenco dancer, Leonor Leal.”

The official festival programme will be followed by jam sessions. Starring on the first night is Georgi Petrov trio and on the second – Milen Kukosharov quartet. The organizers say that all festival performers will take part.

And here is something that will certainly interest young Bulgarian musicians – two master classes will be organized in the concert hall of the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School in Sofia. The first – by Ramon Valle is at 4 PM on Friday, 9 October, the second master class is by Edmar Castaneda again at 4 PM, but on Sunday, 11 October.

The audio file contains the following pieces:

-  Playground, Ramon Valle;

-  Sin Muros, David Dorantes.

English version: Milena Daynova