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A prominent jazz pianist and composer, Plamen Karadonev is one of the very few Bulgarian musicians to have graduated the full course of studies at the Berklee College of Music. And what is more – his new musical project has recently been released on the markets in the US. More about it and of course, fragments from some of the tracks included in it coming up in the next 20 minutes on Radio Bulgaria.
Here is first Mathias Blues based on a motif by Paul Hindemith.
For ten years, Plamen Karadonev has been living in Boston – a time that he has devoted to his studies, to working with famous jazz musicians, and last but not least, to releasing his debut album entitled Crossing Lines.
“I have been in the US since 2001. I received a scholarship for Berklee College of Music after an auditioning in 1998. As far as I know, I have received one of the highest scholarships ever granted to a Bulgarian student. Between 2001 and 2006, I studied jazz piano. In college, I had amazing jazz performers as my teachers such as Joe Lovano, Danillo Perez, etc. Gene Perla, a renowned bass guitarist who has worked with Chick Corea, Sarah Vaughan, etc, has influenced me a lot. Together with him, we had several gigs at clubs and concerts in New York. Legendary saxophone player and composer Dave Liebman also took part. I had the honor to play with big musicians. Working together with Jean was an inspiration to me. I also composed several tracks that were at the basis of my debut album. It was released in the USA in 2008. It received very good reviews in the press in Europe and across the ocean. Some of my tracks are based on folklore motifs which appealed a great deal to the audience.”
The next piece is the Little Bagpiper – a track from Plamen Karadonev’s new album.
In the USA, Plamen found himself in an entirely new and colorful world of exciting musical adventures. As he says, this was an opportunity for him to expand his outlook of an artist. At the same time, he had a strong impulse to return to his roots. Plamen was born in the town of Stara Zagora. He started studying music when he was only 5, and he played the accordion. He says that this is the family instrument that several people from his family used to love. And his first teacher was none other than his father. Later, he was captivated by Bulgarian folk music. He studied piano at the Music High School in his hometown. And as a teenager, he discovered the music of free people.
We offer you next a fragment from his track Waltz Gool.
This was Waltz Cool, a track from the new album of Plamen Karadonev. All recordings we bring you today were made in February this year. They came out on the market as a maxi-single featuring 4 tracks. The whole album is yet to be released. Here is more from the author: “In my new project, I am playing mainly on the accordion. I don’t remember exactly how I had the idea to start composing music in which I could interweave the sound of my first instrument. I think that its timbre is closer to the specific quality of the human voice. And I started experimenting with electronic sounds and acoustic instruments”, Plamen Karadonev says.
Two of the tracks feature a string quartet composed of Bulgarian musicians. The jazz musicians who take part are only celebrated names such as saxophone player Jerry Bergonzi, young pianist Alan Benzie, percussionist Fabio Pirozzolo, Greg Loughman, and several others. Plamen also says he likes a lot the works of Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and other 20th century composers as, in his opinion, their works are very close to the modern language of jazz. In his latest project, he has used two motifs from classic composers – one is from Paul Hindemith’s Matthias the Painter and the other from one of Tchaikovsky’ s romantic song, with another curious detail being the unusual match between the accordion and the saxophone. “There is also a great deal of personal motivation”, Plamen Karadonev recalls. “My father who was my first teacher in music was very ill. This made me reconsider my whole life and I feel deep gratitude to him for giving me so much. I dedicate this project to my father”.
At the end of this feature, we have for you Plamen Karadonev’s composition based on a motif from one of Tchaikovsky’s romantic songs. The original title in Russian is Net, toljko tot kto znal, with a loose translation in English None But the Lonely Heart.
