Grammy-nominated pianist Roberto Fonseca of Buena Vista Social Club and Grammy-winning women’s choir New Bulgarian Voices are returning to Bulgaria with their collaborative project Beyond the Notes for the second time, announced Jazz Plus, co-producer of the project together with Montuno Productions. Beyond the Notes will be presented in the summer of 2023 in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna.
The tour in which Bulgarian folk music meets Cuban jazz comes after a successful European premiere in front of 3,500 people at the prestigious Jazz In Marciac festival in France.
Jazz Plus has prior experience with producing such collaborative projects, and one of them, Estruna, of flamenco singer Arcangel and the New Bulgarian Voices choir, won a Latin Grammy for best flamenco album in 2018.
Roberto Fonseca’s love of Bulgarian folklore goes back a long way. According to the Cuban musician, anyone who hears Bulgarian choral singing is shaken to the core – by the harmonies, the melodies, the way it is sung, even the rhythm. “It’s a mystery that, combined with the mystery of Cuban traditional music, is something amazing,” Fonseca is quoted as saying by Jazz Plus.
Fonseca is coming to Bulgaria together with bassist Yandy Martinez and drummer Ruly Herrera.
In this production the audience will be presented with a new, large-scale vocal arrangement by New Bulgarian Voices conductor Georgi Petkov of Roberto Fonseca’s piece “Bulgarian”.
The musicians from Bulgaria and Cuba will meet the Bulgarian fans on June 30 in Plovdiv, on July 2 in Varna and on July 4 in Sofia.
The project is supported by the National Culture Fund.
