The new ethno jazz formation JazzBoree made a deep impression on listeners with their debut single Dos dos, Done le.

Savina Plamenova has made a name for herself as a folklore singer who is also fond of jazz. She has been part of different popular folklore ensembles, and has broadened her quests with her solo songs in which she combines folklore with jazz. Savina wanted to set up a formation of like-minded musicians who would take this concept to heart. 

And she first turned to the “piano man” – she found Boris Petkov on social media. He made an impression on her as a young, talented and ambitious musician. Then came Andrey Velkov, drums and Ralitsa Toneva, saxophone. They hit it off right away and started making music together – naturally, with ease and with pleasure. As it turned out, Boris Petkov had been interested in doing Bulgarian folklore even before meeting Savina. Even though he has lived in Bulgaria for most of his life (he has been studying in Germany for 4 years), it was only when he left the country and started feeling homesick that he realized he did not know Bulgarian music very well. When Savina got in touch with him, Boris says it was a sign of destiny, and he said to himself: That’s it! A classical musician by education, he discovered so much freedom in jazz, and in music studies his passion is for harmony. Boris does the arrangements of all of the songs JazzBoree record, with the other three members adding to his ideas. Dos dos, Done le was his choice for a first single.

Savina on her part was very careful as she authored the lyrics, for which she relied on Bulgarian traditions, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ music collections, archives and records.

As to JazzBoree’s music, this is how Andrey Velkov describes it:

 “We don’t have a specific style we aspire after – it is more like we are swimming in the jazz family, and there are so many styles there. We don’t have restrictions in terms of stylistics, but the scales are tipped in favour of jazz and what we are doing is looking for the link between folklore and jazz.”

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova

Photos: Facebook /JazzBoree