Canadian tenor saxophonist and composer Seamus Blake will perform two concerts at Sofia’s In The Mood jazz club, the venue said on Tuesday.
The concerts are scheduled for October 15 and 16, 2026, as part of the club’s third season, under the motto Beyond Borders.
Blake will join the trio led by double bassist Vasil Hadjigrudev, with guitarist Aleksandar Logozarov and drummer Borislav Petrov, as a special guest. The organizers said the repertoire would feature original compositions by all four musicians, allowing for world-class musical dialogue, spontaneous musical choices and fresh interpretations of jazz standards.
“The two concerts offer Bulgarian audiences a chance to hear up close an artist whose sound and musical imagination have left a distinctive mark on the global jazz scene for more than three decades,” the club said. It added that Blake’s appearance would bring an internationally established artist into an intimate club setting, in creative partnership with Bulgarian musicians.
Born in England and raised in Vancouver, Blake built much of his career in New York. In 2002, he won first prize in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, whose judges included Wayne Shorter and Joshua Redman. The win led to a performance alongside Shorter and Herbie Hancock.
Blake has a longstanding association with the Mingus Big Band and appears on six Grammy-nominated albums by Mingus ensembles. He has worked with John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Douglas and Bill Stewart, and has also toured in recent years with Roger Waters, known for his work with Pink Floyd. Scofield, whose Quiet Band has featured Blake, describes him as “extraordinary, a true saxophonist”.
Alongside these collaborations, Blake has built his own discography as a bandleader and composer, exploring acoustic jazz, fusion and electronic sounds.
Hadjigrudev, who initiated the two concerts, is also a composer active in Bulgaria and in international projects. He studied at the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen and worked and taught in Spain for many years. The organizers said his original projects blend composition and improvisation with a Bulgarian rhythmic and melodic sensibility.
Canadian Saxophonist Seamus Blake to Perform at In The Mood THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-13 14:47:05
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