Goraswing
A traditional jazz trio which I started performing originals with. The band members are Dimitar Liolev – alto and Vassil Hadjigrudev – bass.
Later on various artists have joined the band such as Alexander Logozarov – guitar, Tihomir Krastev – tenor and Miroslav Turiyski – piano.
The upcoming record is currently under production and was recorded by the original trio line up plus a few tracks with Alex on the guitar.
Synthesizers and speech
This is an open project for creating music over existing works. It started with adaptations of a couple of Bulgarian versions of the 1001 Nights tales – Sindbad the Sailor and Zain and the King of Genies. Currently working on the Hollywood classic 12 Angry Men.
Gorafunk Electric
Here I am again alone doing this solo project which recreates the songs from Frost/Fire but only through the Arturia MatrixBrute. Some additional effects were added in the process through my trusty Roland SPD-SX but apart from that – all the sounds are from the MatrixBrute and of course sometimes we have some spoken words from Setareh and one famous movie in War.
Below you can find a link to a playlist on youtube containing all songs from the electronic album. You can also find them on my bandcamp page which is also listed below.
Giedrius Nakas Trio
Giedrius Nakas – piano
Andrea Caruso – double bass
Stefan Goranov – drums
A modern jazz trio with a strong classical influence in search for a modern sound through the fusion of contemporary and classical music.
SOLO
This is a project I started working on in the autumn of 2016. It is a drum solo performance strongly influenced by minimal music, traditional musics of Bulgaria, Africa, the Caribbean and India. In 2019 the record was released under the name Minimal Images for the net label Mahorka.
The score for this performance is available in the Notes section of this site.
GORAFUNK
Nacho de Frutos – guitar (in Spain)
Alexander Logozarov – guitar (in Bulgaria)
June Koo – guitar (in South Korea)
Dario Guibert – bass
Mihail Ivanov – bass (in Bulgaria)
Jorge Castañeda – piano
Setareh Nafisi – voice and piano
Evden Dimitrov – synths
Stefan Goranov – drums/arrangements/compositions.
In the 1980s Kenny Garrett said that if John Coltrane was alive he would play hip hop because hip hop was “the music of today”.
This band is our attempt to look for “the music of today”.
Each of the members is a versatile working professional with appearances at prestigious jazz festivals and venues around Europe.
The first two albums of the band were dedicated to the compositions of Charlie Parker and the works of Ray Bradbury. You can find them online at:
https://stefangoranovquartet.bandcamp.com/releases
For a digital download: Stefan Goranov – Birdwatch – Music Of Charlie Parker.
BSO:
• Pranas Kentra Trio/Quartet/Quintet:
We are off to Lithuania very soon to play again at the oldest jazz festival in the country – Birstonas Jazz Festival – where we are going to present our second album – Centrifuge.
Here is the title track of the album:
A band which combines jazz, classical, rock and folk music. Pranas was always interested in rhythm and this brought him to the Bulgarian music. We started the band in 2009 playing arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs. Eventually the idea evolved into a quintet with which we performed at a lot of festivals and venues in the Baltic countries, The Netherlands and Bulgaria from 2010 to 2012. The next step we took was to focus on our original music and that is what we are doing now. Pranas’s way of playing the guitar is quite different compared to any other guitar player I played with and this makes it always a challenge and a great experience to reunite again with this project. Apart from that, knowing each other for so long time makes this project almost like a family to me since during the years we had to deal with many issues – some musical, some not. Thus, creating music with this band is already a different experience – much more personal and mature every next time we meet.
Played at Birstonas Jazz Festival and many other festivals in Lithuania and Latvia in 2011, 2012, 2013. The Netherlands in 2011 and 2014. Bulgaria in 2010.
Albums: Vague Memoirs – released 02.2014
Current members:
Pranas Kentra – guitar, Mark Haanstra – bass, Hiske Oostewijk – vocals, Stefan Goranov – drums.
Previously in the band:
Remigius Ranchys – saxophones and flute
Alina Engibaryan – vocals
Viktorija Pilatovic – vocals
Benson Itoe – el. bass
Tyler Luppi – double bass
Dimitar Karamfilov – doulble bass
Charlie Wang – double bass
The rock/pop side of the Pranas Kentra bands:
• Songs of Aeon
Another special group for me which we started during our studies in the Netherlands together with Lilly Illieva – vocals, Alex Logozarov – guitar and Vasil Hadjigrudev – bass. An attempt to approach Bulgarian folk songs from an angle that is not so much explored meaning that we focused more on the melodic and lyrical parts of the music. In a way the only obviously folk element which we kept was the voice. The fun and challenge in Alex’s arrangements is that he always pushes the songs to the limit, taking everything possible out of it without loosing the core of the tune. Later in the band took part Azfansadra Karim – keys, Carmello Graceffa – percussion/drums, Stefan Cekov – drums.
• The Music Of Woody Shaw
A project that involved some great musicians from Bulgaria, Spain and Cuba throughout the years. Dedicated to the great trumpet player Woody Shaw and his compositions.
Here is a tune from our last performance in Bulgaria in a quintet setting this time.
Mihail Iossifov – trumpet
Dimitar Liolev – saxophone
Alex Logozarov – guitar
Dimitar Karamfilov – bass
• EF Orchestra (2012 -2013)
A large ensemble consisting of PCC students led by Stefan Goranov and Tim
Kotnik. Peformed at City Jazz Festival Leeuwarden 2012 and on several
venues in Groningen the same year. In a way it is a special band for me cause we were able to play the music of the great Woody Shaw and a couple of my originals.You can find more information about this band on the soundcloud link below including all the band members’ names. Always grateful to all of them for the nice things we did together.