On 21 October, Velislav Stoyanov and Alexander Vasev present UNBOUND — a project for trombone and piano built around the music that has shaped them as musicians. Both are classically trained, with extensive performance experience across a range of musical genres. Classical music, jazz, funk, soul, blues and improvisation all form part of their musical language, yet no single label is sufficient to define it.
At the heart of UNBOUND lies their musical memory — the music beyond the classical repertoire that they have listened to, studied, played and absorbed over the years. The works of Prince, Stevie Wonder, George Duke, Freddie Mercury and other artists are not a repertoire for yet another set of instrumental versions. They are raw material. Familiar themes, harmonies, rhythms and fragments are taken apart and reassembled. Sometimes a melody remains from the original. Sometimes it is a harmony, a rhythmic gesture, a brief quotation or merely a trace. From these elements, new musical structures emerge — from short forms to expansive works with their own dramatic development.
The piano does not accompany. The trombone does not replace the voice.
The two instruments continually exchange functions. Composed passages give way to open spaces for improvisation, where the music is created in the moment and the two performers trade roles and take turns leading.
A special place in the programme belongs to The Prince Sonata — a work lasting nearly 45 minutes, built from musical material spanning different periods of Prince’s career. Neither a sequence of songs nor a mashup in the usual sense, it is an independent three-part musical structure in which themes and fragments appear, transform and return, while the composed framework continually opens up space for improvisational dialogue.
UNBOUND is not a tribute. It is not a collection of covers. It is not an attempt to move music from one genre into another. It is music built from the musical memory of two musicians who can afford the freedom of having nothing to prove about which genre they belong to.
Velislav Stoyanov is a trombonist, composer, educator and creator of musical projects, with many years of experience on Bulgaria’s classical, jazz and contemporary music scenes.
His classical training and work across different musical genres have shaped an approach to the trombone that does not confine it to a predetermined role. At different stages of his career, Stoyanov has worked with classical music, jazz, funk, world music and brass band music, with improvisation remaining an essential part of his musical language.
He is a co-founder of Brass Association and the creator of several ensembles and projects, including BrazzViliDJ and The Essential Funk Trombone. Alongside his active concert career, he teaches and devotes a significant part of his professional work to developing young instrumentalists. In recent years, he has focused on reviving the rich musical legacy of his renowned grandfather, the composer Yosif Tsankov.
In UNBOUND, this accumulated experience comes together in an unusually open role for the instrument. Rather than taking over the original vocal line, the trombone functions as an independent voice — melodic, rhythmic and improvisational — entering into an equal dialogue with the piano.
Alexander Vasev is a classically trained pianist, composer and arranger, and a prizewinner at national and international piano competitions. His classical background meets a longstanding interest in jazz, funk, contemporary music and improvisation. In The Essential Funk Trombone, he performs as a keyboardist and vocalist and contributes original compositions to the repertoire.
In UNBOUND, Vasev creates the musical structures that underpin the project. His work begins with existing material but goes beyond arranging it. Themes, harmonies, rhythms and individual fragments are taken apart, connected and developed into new forms with their own internal logic and dramatic development. The written music provides a framework while leaving ample room for improvisation and spontaneous musical dialogue between the two performers.
UNBOUND | 21 October | In The Mood Jazz Club