BalkaNova
Press
BalkaNova was a guest in the studio of Deutschlandfunk Kultur / Funkhaus Berlin on 07.03.25. Katrin Wilke interviewed us about our ensemble and the new BalkaNova CD “July Morning”, which has just been released by Laika Records and we also played 3 tracks from the new CD as a duo (V. Lasaroff & A.Brunn). On 18.03.25 there was a wonderful & intense program in the DLF Music magazine TONART JAZZ! Many thanks for the multifaceted interview, Katrin Wilke!
Our new BalkaNova CD “July Morning” was presented on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in the program “Hörbar” of the Hessischer Rundfunk (hr2-kultur).
Adelheid Kleine: “Music from the BalkaNova trio, our featured artists today on “Hörbar” on HR2 and SWR Kultur. The trio, led by Bulgarian singer Viktoria Lasaroff, has achieved a rather original approach to revitalizing traditional folk music while still maintaining its authenticity. Many guests contributed to the album; this is music full of joy and passion. The album is called “July Morning,” and it really makes you want more! I also have “Gankino Horo” for you, a Bulgarian folk dance in a lively 11/8 time with BalkaNova.”
CD review: ROOTSTIME
The Belgian music magazine Rootstime writes in March 2025 about Balkanova’s CD “July Morning”:
“In Bulgaria, many people travel to the Black Sea on the night of 30 June to 1 July to watch the sunrise and celebrate with the song “July Morning” by Uriah Heep. Over time, this tradition has become an integral part of the culture. The new BalkaNova CD commemorates this tradition and contains ten songs that combine fusion and jazz and deal with key moments of a young relationship such as falling in love, living together, migration and family dynamics. …
The album features renowned guest musicians such as drummer Stojan Yankoulov, saxophonist Vladimir Karparov and others, making for a captivating and fast-paced listening experience. Most of the songs are based on Bulgarian folk traditions, with one Serbian exception (‘Ayde Yano’). Particularly noteworthy are Viktoria Lasaroff’s versatile voice and Andreas Brunn’s guitar, which effortlessly combines Balkan rhythms with influences from Cuba and Brazil and breathes new life into Bulgarian folk music. Delicious stuff!” Dani Heyvaert @ Rootstime
Folker.world : CD-Review BalkaNova ”July Morning”
Since the 1970s, Bulgaria has had a tradition of traveling to the coast of the Black Sea on June 30 to experience the sunrise on July 1 with other people on the cliffs. The song ‘July Morning’ by Uriah Heep is played. Balkanova have taken this magical experience as the starting point for their new long player, which was made possible with funding from the Berlin Senate. …
Once again they offer melodies from the Balkans in a new guise from the homeland of Bulgarian soprano Viktoria Lasaroff. Together with the German guitarist Andreas Brunn and the Canadian bassist Robin Draganic, she forms the core line-up. They are joined on the new CD by a number of guests, including Stoyan Yankoulov on percussion once again.
Interesting: the Serbian classic ‘Ayde Yano’ is effortlessly relocated to Cuba despite its seven-eighths time signature. (Ines Körver)
MALAGA JAZZFESTIVAL
“… BALKANOVA, the voice of the Balkans … Viktoria Lasaroff, who is on stage, sings in the highest soprano. How is that possible? This woman had a deep voice just a few minutes ago. How does she manage that? A voice that fills your eyes with tears, leaves you spellbound and already asking for the next song. The Balkanova Trio tells us stories and well-known legends of the Balkans, which take shape in beautiful songs in a very unique way, played perfectly and flawlessly…
This was a night of anecdotes and jazz, of stories, legends and magic. An hour of pure enjoyment with one of the best European jazz voices. An hour to appreciate real professionals who are making a name for themselves with their special and unique sound. Yesterday we smiled with our hearts thanks to this Balkan trio…” Lily Sánchez @ www.modernicolas.com
CD review: JAZZPODIUM
BalkaNova – Heart Beats – Bos Rec 228-12
Featuring Stoyan Yankoulov
… Now there are the words – voice – of the amazing soprano Viktoria Lasaroff (also on accordion and percussion), who has now taken over her permanent part in BalkaNova. Horst Nonnenmacher is on bass, and in six of the ten debut pieces BalkaNova is very effectively reinforced by drummer/percussionist Stoyan Yankoulov.
Genre boundaries are also breaking down, and where at first (mainly due to Brunn’s guitar playing between jazzy lines and his inexhaustible mastery of often seemingly enigmatic rhythms and meters) one was inclined to hear something like folk or Balkan jazz, it becomes clearer from song to song how a nameless new genre is emerging from the genres. “Hey, faithful friend, sing a song, don’t forget me” concludes one of the songs. Don’t worry: BalkaNova is not something you could easily forget. …” – Alexander Schmitz
Autumn came with “BalkaNova”
” … The Bulgarian-German trio BalkaNova opened the JazzHerbst Ilmenau with their concert in the city library. Jazz has its own fans and its own colorations: BalkaNova mixed jazz with Bulgarian and South Slavic influences. Viktoria Lasaroff used the short distance between the band and the audience in the library to enter into a dialogue with the audience. This was very likeable, as Bulgarian folk music is not exactly part of the mainstream of musical performances on radio, television and in concerts.
All the more enjoyable was the refreshing performance, whose musical surprises included the interaction of Andreas Brunn’s seven-string guitar and Robin Draganic’s double bass. It is a pleasure to listen to the waves of melancholy and to indulge in dreams. The BalkaNova trio even gave a lesson in Greece: the invitation to dance sounded like a sirtaki. … “dol
BalkaNova “Heart Beats” – Bosrecords
“In Central European cities, the Balkan sound is often associated with brass instruments and wild folk pogo, at best with gypsy swing and klezmer music. The fact that music from the Balkans can always be good for a surprise is now a well-established insider tip.
Balka Nova play jazz in a very sensitive way. The pool from which the four musicians around Bulgarian singer Viktoria Lasaroff draw mainly consists of folk songs from Bulgaria. The singer is very familiar with these.
However, guitarist Andreas Brunn and bassist Horst Nonnenmacher dress these folk songs in a jazzy guise, which Bulgarian percussionist Stoyan Yankoulov gives a world-music touch. Folkloristic chamber jazz at its finest.” – Karsten Rube
BALKANOVA Heart Beats (Bosrecords 228-12 / JARO Medien)
“Guitar-heavy Balkan folk jazz. Traditional folk songs and dances from the turbulent history of the Balkans are presented in a modern way by Viktoria Lasaroff, Andreas Brunn and Horst Nonnenmacher for voice, guitar and double bass.
The Bulgarian drum and percussion star Stoyan Yankoulov was there … played with confidence, party-ready and suitable for festivals. “
Balkan melodies and jazz transported to another world
” … The basis of BalkaNova’s music are Bulgarian folk songs. All the songs have been completely rearranged by the band, adding a wide variety of rhythms and colorful jazz harmonies.
Viktoria Lasaroff is a sensitive singer who focuses on the melody. She never overloads the melody with striking effects, but lets it speak for itself. Andreas Brunn is a virtuoso guitarist. Brunn is also highly sensitive as an accompanist and provides a wide variety of colors and As a result, the musicians took many sides to the irresistible, often highly emotional original melodies and immersed their audience
in another world. Andreas Brunn and Horst Nonnenmacher also display fabulous interaction as a duo, as they showed in one of Brunn’s compositions
Nouvelle cuisine of folk – Hair as black as coal, voice as deep as the mine it comes from: Viktoria Lasaroff and her trio provided refined and sophisticated musical variations: A “nouvelle cuisine” of folk that turned listeners into real fans at the Südbayern premiere in Dießen’s “Keller”. The pairing of guitar (Andreas Brunn) and double bass (Horst Nonnemacher) starts with a slow and relaxed, yet incredibly pronounced melody. Throughout the rest of the songs, you could be forgiven for thinking that there was another drum kit in the room, such was the precision of the rhythmic changes performed by the three musicians, who were in perfect harmony with each other.
Viktoria Lasaroff summarized her lyrics in German with the captivating intonation of an oriental storyteller. The vocals then unfolded softly and richly. Then, in a gypsy song popular throughout the Balkans, she suddenly stepped away from the microphone and repeated the verse with the power and emotion of an opera diva overcome with grief: a successful surprise. The return to soft, deeply murmuring vocals immediately seemed to suspend all sense of time. Andreas Brunn’s guitar also occasionally left the realms of folk behind and strayed into jazzy variations, but these were woven in so sensitively that the cohesion of this world music was always preserved. – Andreas Frey
Love of life in music – BalkaNova rocks the “bridge” in Hörste
At the end everyone applauded. Viktoria Lasaroff was visibly pleased with “such an attentive audience”. The listeners on the “bridge” had just enjoyed the musical hike from Balka Nova between folk, jazz and classical music to the full. Together with the accomplished guitarist Andreas Brunn, the academically trained singer walked between the musical worlds and mixed them very creatively.
In order to swing and to be able to bring the full groove with his guitar, Brunn had pulled another string under the low E-string in order to advance his differentiated chord voicings between jazz and classical modern with a rich bass line. In addition, Viktoria Lasaroff unfolded the registers of her timbre-rich mezzo-soprano as varied as it was coherent in order to sing of the theme that moves the hearts of people in all peoples the most: love. And love as a celebration of joy and tangible vitality. – Andreas Schwabe
Southeast European impressions
Viktoria Lasaroff dominated the stage with her strong, dark voice as well as the intensity of her singing. She was not so much the bitter gypsy, she looked more like the powerful female embodiment of the originally rural Bulgaria. The gentlemen at your side compete confidently through the polyrhythmics of the repertoire and set virtuoso, jazzy highlights … Conclusion: a well-rounded program by an ensemble, whose further development one can look forward to. “-Fred Boehme



