Velinova, Gergana
Cellar Music, 2026, CD
Instrument: Female Vocals
Issue: 32.3
Jazz Ruler Type: Ballads, Blues
Performance: 3
Sound: 3
Score: 74
O’s Notes: Bulgarian Canadian jazz vocalist, composer, and poet Gergana Velinova resides in Vancouver and performs globally. Free is her latest album inspired by her new Canadian citizenship. Gergana gets support from fine musicians with a core rhythm section including Kristian Alexandrov (keyboards, perc), Joel Fountain (d) and either Peter Slavov, Miles Hills or MoJo Jones on bass. Her music is slanted towards the contemporary side on tunes like “A Song About Stones”. Vince Mai (t) provides muted accents on “Orange Moon”. There’s a taste of bossa nova on “If You Knew” and lazy sax from Cory Weeds on “Keep Walking”. It’s a good set with lots of variety.
Publicist: Crossover Media
