A to Jazz Festival, Sofia, July 4

Following on from last year’s successful debut, the World Music Showcase at Sofia’s A to Jazz Festival has already expanded from eight to twelve acts, plus a celebratory gig and award ceremony for Fanie Fayar, a showcase debutant last year and now the UPBEAT Best New Artist Award winner. Spread over a long weekend of European football and elections, the festival was a sun-baked musical and cultural escape.

With its rising profile, the showcase received applications from across Europe, the chosen twelve spread between the festival main stage in the beautiful South Park and two halls in the neighbouring Toplocentrala Cultural Centre.

The artists to grace the main stage were a truly disparate selection. Chrust were a blast of electro-rock folk, the Polish trio’s traditional and contemporary synergy, a startling opening act. Sinafi Trio couldn't have been more different, the Greek female musicians performed a moving mixture of traditional Turkish songs and their own compositions about the intimate lives of women. Beautifully played, their performance was deeply hypnotic, the oud and qanun perfect partners to Elena Moudiri Hasiotou’s sublime voice. Bulgaria’s Alexander Mihaylov & His Partardia was a fascinating collision of jazz and global influences, the band sweeping from Balkan and Irish-sounding numbers to reggae-fusion with great technique and stagecraft.

The award-winning Portuguese guitarist Manel Ferreira arrived alongside his percussionist and bassist and were exceptional. An incredible guitarist and delicate singer, his cultured blend of flamenco, jazz, bossa and fado leaned heavily on his ‘Vento Ibérico’ album, the audience entranced by each yearning note played, the songs full of wanderlust and saudade. As the sun dropped, Belgian dub outfit KOSMO SOUND really took off when joined by Moroccan gnawa singer Imane Guemssy, her soaring vocals and gimbri playing the catalyst for a set that transcended the cliches of dub. Benin born Frenchman, Serge Ananou took his big stage moment with confidence and big-hearted energy. His West African funky blues and his 4-piece band oozed joy and class, and the huge crowd loved them.

Hiram Salsano at A to Jazz Festival, Sofia

Rushing to the Toplocentrala, the remaining acts came in a flurry of overlapping performances. Belgium’s M.CHUZI’s global grooves outfit displayed their star potential with a dynamic show before I was pulled into the smaller Hall 2 to witness my highlight of the showcase, Hiram Salsano. Her experimental remodelling of traditional southern Italian songcraft sees her playing frame drums over her own looped vocals while Catello Gargiulo switches expertly between accordion and marranzano jaw harp but it is Salsano’s gutsy, exhilarating voice and star power that really stole the show.

Melodramatic and theatrical, Raquel Kurpershoek’s blend of contemporary Latin American influences and classical flamenco shushed the noisy festival crowd with her confident stage presence before I had to change from sugar to salt with the experimental industrial folk of Jarzmo. The Polish duo’s combination of drums and the home-crafted nyckelharpa instrument made for a doomy twenty minutes. The Turkish-Hungarian band Nasip Kismet provided a supercharged show of Anatolian rock, psychedelia and elements of traditional music, A showstopping festival band with plenty of audience interaction, killer solos and singalong vocals, they deservedly drew a rapturous response from the packed dancing crowd. Unfortunately, I only managed to catch the final song by the Croatian band Balkalar (the only final song I was able to enjoy!), the audience and band dripping with sweat to their exuberant authentic party folk. I wish I’d seen more.

As well attended as the main festival after only one year suggests an appetite in Bulgaria for global music, with different languages and musical cultures welcomed heartily into this youthful city.