INTRODUCTION BY YORDAN RUPCHEV

In the eve of it's 10th anniversary Varna Jazz Festival summoned the courage to step over into open air. Thus, the organizers will achieve two goals for sure: the festival will get closer to art and will be heard by greater audience.

Otherwise everything is like in the old times: gone are now the times when the history stretched back to only two years when Varna, Bulgaria was a white spot on the map of jazz events. Now an orbit of friends and supporters spin around the festival eagerly waiting for its next edition. The unwavering Anatoly Vapirov continues to convince, insist and, most important, keep burning the flame of Bulgaria's only jazz festival, the festival where the audience can witness unique processes and projects which only this festival can offer.

Today, when it's harder then ever to define what jazz is, the organizers of the Varna festival has their unswerving goal. Welcome to all musicians of questing spirit who do not rely on fashion, trends and clichés but on naturally engendered ideas... they trust their intuition and are not servants to an audience.

Regretfully, this time too, not all ideas have reached to the festival stage. But anyway, we need our dear memories of the future in the same way that we need our dear memories of the past. It is just one year ad we'll celebrate the first jubilee of that festival. Maybe then all dreams will come true. But before that. Let us experience then three concerts of the 9th year and let the Skies have mercy to charge both participants and audience with its all-penetrating energy.