Some music defines its time, yet remains timeless.
The music of one of the remarkable jazz recordings of the late 1950s — Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago — will come alive on the In The Mood stage, reinterpreted and experienced anew more than six decades later by two exceptional Bulgarian saxophonists — Vladimir Karparov and Tihomir Krastev.
On February 3, 1959, two of the most influential saxophonists in jazz history — Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and John Coltrane — entered a Chicago studio to record Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago. At the time, both were members of Miles Davis’s legendary sextet. Joining them on the recording were fellow band members Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on double bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. The album remains a remarkable document of the meeting between two distinct yet equally powerful musical voices.
On September 25, Vladimir Karparov and Tihomir Krastev will come together on the In The Mood stage, inspired by this historic music — not to reproduce it note for note, but to experience it anew.
Karparov-Krastev play Cannonball – Coltrane is a concert dedicated to the jazz tradition and to music that has left a lasting mark on the genre’s development. Alto and tenor saxophone engage in a dialogue, honouring the spirit of the compositions while drawing on the personal sensibilities, experience and distinctive artistic voices of the two soloists.
Few musicians could be better suited to this encounter.
Vladimir Karparov is a versatile, inspired musician and gifted composer who moves effortlessly across genres. He has lived and worked in Berlin since 2002, and his music intertwines contemporary jazz with the rhythmic and melodic richness of Bulgarian folk traditions. In 2020, he received an award from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture for his contribution to promoting Bulgarian culture worldwide.
His discography includes Thracian Dance (2007), Live at BNR Sofia (2008), Forkolor (2014), Antihypocrisyl (2016) and Iglika (2022). In 2024, Balkan Spirit Ensemble released Balkan Fever, produced by Karparov and featuring his arrangements of most of the compositions. He has performed and toured with Ivo Papasov, Nedyalko Nedyalkov, Theodosii Spassov, Martin Lubenov, John Hollenbeck, Diego Piñera, Nenad Vasilić, Babylon Orchestra and many others, bringing a wide range of musical ideas to life.
Tihomir Krastev is an accomplished saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator whose musical journey spans Bulgaria, Canada and the international jazz scene. He continued his studies at Concordia University in Montreal under Charles Ellison and Dave Turner, becoming an active presence on the Canadian jazz scene. Alongside leading his own projects, he has worked with musicians and ensembles including Dave Turner, Charles Ellison Group, Fat Kid Big Band, De-Phazz, Joshua Rager, Al McLean and Lana Stamen. He has appeared with his own group at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and performed across Europe, Asia and the United States.
He features on Lana Stamen’s album What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?, to which he also contributed arrangements and original compositions, as well as on Fat Kid Big Band’s New Beginnings. These recordings reveal different facets of his work — as a soloist, composer and musician within a large ensemble.
Joining them on stage are three outstanding figures from the Bulgarian and international jazz scenes — Dimitar Karamfilov on double bass, Steve Hamilton on piano and Emil Tasev on drums. Together, the five musicians preserve the instrumentation of the original recording, giving the music room to breathe, unfold and be rediscovered.
Some melodies never grow old — they simply await the next voice to bring them new life.