Elitsa & Stoyan – Water (Bulgaria – 5th on Eurovision 2007) Elitsa Todorova was born on 02 Sept. 1977. She studied at the “Philip Koutev” school of musicin Kotel, specializing in folklore singing; and the “Dobri Hristov” school of music in Varna, specializing in percussions. She then graduated from the “P. Vladigerov” State Academy of music in Sofia, majoring in percussions. She attracts both, the audiences’ and the critics’ attention by her specific voice – strong, deep-toned, clear and hardy, the tone-quality being one of beautiful and rich ornamentation. Todorova worked as a soloist at the State Dance and Music Ensemble in Varna and the “Cosmic Voices of Bulgaria” Choir where she performed authentic Bulgarian folk songs, and compositions in Yiddish and Sanskrit. In 2003 Elitsa Todorova began working with Bulgaria’s most popular and renowned drummer and percussionist Stoyan Yankoulov. The unique Elitsa Todorova-Stoyan Yankoulov Duo turned into a phenomenon in no time. Their high professionalism and perfectionism underlies all their performances. Elitsa Todorova develops a percussions-playing style of her own, combining quick ostinate rhythms on the tarambuka with synhronized tarambuka with synchronized playing and singing. The result is a mosaic of unique vocal movements and impeccable musical improvisations. She plays traditional percussion instruments in a most non-traditional way. The singer easily mixes traditional folklore with jazz, drum and base, ethno-motifs …
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Dutch Swing College Band – Perdido Street Blues Burghausen (Germany), 2007 March 17 A popular saying goes: “There are two kinds of music, good music and bad music”. For the true fan of good traditional jazz music the choice is simple, because there is only one Dutch Swing College Band. The Dutch Swing College Band started out as an amateur-college combo on liberation day (1945, may 5th) and through the years it has grown into a worldfamous jazz ensemble that has toured all five continents to much acclaim. The DSC played a prominent role during the post-war period. At the time many youngsters fell under the spell of the original Amerian music: jazz. The band, which has existed for more than sixty years, has given concerts all over the world and the sounds have been registered on practically all types of sound recordings since 1945. The band also appeared frequently on TV and in film productions. Through the years many big names in jazz music were backed by the DSC, from Sidney Bechet, Joe Venuti and Rita Reys to Teddy Wilson. The expression “The Haque School” was born out of the big influence of the DSC on the Dutch jazz scene. Deservedly many jazz fans consider the DSC almost as an institution. Fortunately, the Dutch Swing College Band has never presented itself as a show or glitter orchestra. The musicians have always succeeded in capturing the public’s attention with their excellent jazz performances. Cheap show tricks were absolutely out of the question. In 1960, the …

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