The Photo Exhibition

Can music be caught in a photo? Can we feel it from a single shot?

And what about the mountain? The mountain… and all the emotions it provokes in us… the power, the magnificence, the beauty… These were the thoughts that went through the heads of the event promoters who decided to organize within the framework of “July Jazz 2006” a photo competition – “Mountain Moods”, which was opened in the first day of the festival.

In the competition took part authors from all over the country, which sent their photos and were competing in two categories: The Mountain and The Music.

The exhibition was displayed in the lobby of the Rhodope theatre “Nikolay Haytov” and went o till the end of the festival – on Saturday, when the names of the winners were announced. The participants had sent in advance their photos and they have been displayed for a month on the site of the festival and there anyone could vote for his favourite shot. This way the promoters managed to overcome their personal predilections and make the contest for the award a fare fight.

The winners are: in The Mountain Category – Georgy Georgiev – Ghetzata and in The Music category – Angel Vassilev. The awards were provided by Bulstrad Life Insurance JSC from the executive director Ms.Svetla Nestorova.

The Jam Sessions

In figure skating there are compulsory and free figures. In jazz the free program is considered compulsory and its “superlative degree” are the jam sessions.

During the second night of the festival was registered the first “free program” of the International Ethno-Jazz Festival July Jazz Smolyan 2006 . After the performances of the Hight time band from the city of Rousse and Ateshkhan I Taifa the musicians moved to the theater and kept on playing for more than four hours.

In various combinations in the jam session took part Mitko Lyoleb – sax, Vasko Parmakov – piano, Atanas Popov – drums, Tony Rikev – guitar, Rado Slavtchev – bass and an anonymous French musician, playing on a flugelhorn, who had come to Smolyan especially for the festival.

On Thursday after the end of the official program the greatest fans moved another time into the lobby of the theatre and attended the second jam session. It was a kind of a dress-rehersal, because the Atcho Zaberski octet played there and it was announced to officially play the next evening. Stoyan Yankulov was playing the drums as if he had just got rid of a playing prohibition.

The third jam session was more of a one man show. A real recital. In the fourth night on the official stage, between the performances of two bands, while the stage was being prepared for the Italian participants, doctor Goryalov got on it.
An experienced amateur-performer from Smolyan, working and living in the city of Plovdiv, he is real evidence that the amateurs of the socialist period were real professionals, though they have never been paid for their music and talent. The sound of doctor Goryalov’s trumpet caressed the ear of the audience and their hearts and after the end of the official part, at the jam session at the theatre, the doctor alone entertained the fans till late at night.

 

The Films>>>