Dimitar Liolev

 

Dimitar Liolev is a Bulgarian saxophonist, composer, and bandleader whose music bridges the rich traditions of Balkan folklore with the expressive freedom of modern jazz. Born into a family of musicians, he grew up surrounded by the sounds of Bulgarian folk music, inspired by his father, an accordionist, clarinetist, and composer. Dimitar began his musical journey at the age of five and discovered the saxophone as his true voice in his teenage years.

He studied piano and bassoon at the Secondary Music School and the Academy of Music in Plovdiv before beginning his professional career. For nearly a decade, he performed extensively across Bulgaria, playing everything from Bulgarian, Serbian, Turkish, and Greek folk music to jazz and popular styles at weddings, festivals, and clubs—an experience that shaped his versatility and deep connection to rhythm and tradition.

In 2002, Dimitar moved to the Netherlands to study at the Prince Claus Conservatory in Groningen, where he was part of the prestigious “New York Comes to Groningen” program. There he trained with world-class jazz educators and musicians from both the U.S. and Europe. His time in the Netherlands quickly brought recognition: he reached the finals of the Dutch Jazz Competition in 2004, performing at the North Sea Jazz Festival with his group “Rakia.” The following year, he won second prize at the Leidse Jazz Award and was nominated for the Harten Aas Jazz Award for outstanding young performers.

Since 2006, Dimitar has been based in Bulgaria, where he has become a key figure in the contemporary jazz scene. He has performed and recorded with some of the country’s most acclaimed musicians and launched several projects under his own leadership, including a quartet, quintet, and septet. His debut album Rhodopology (2013), featuring leading Bulgarian jazz artists, was nominated for Bulgaria’s prestigious Crystal Lyra Award and has been praised for its fusion of Bulgarian folk roots with modern jazz improvisation.

Dimitar is also active as an educator, having taught at the Academy of Music in Plovdiv, and as a performer with major ensembles, including the National Radio Big Band and the Brass Association Big Band. He has also served as musical director of the July Jazz Festival.

His music is deeply shaped by both his Bulgarian heritage and the influence of jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, and Kenny Garrett. Blending these worlds, he has forged a unique sound that resonates with audiences at home and abroad.

 

Rhodope Mountains

 

High in the Rhodope mountains, where the forests of Smolyan breathe mist into the valleys, a lone saxophone often carries its voice across the ridges. The player is a quiet man, known only to the locals as “the musician of the mountains.” At sunrise, he hikes with his instrument strapped to his back, following the winding paths that shepherds and travelers have walked for centuries.

When he reaches a clearing, he lifts the horn to his lips, and the first notes rise like birds breaking the silence. His music is not just jazz, nor simply folk—it is a conversation between past and present. The odd rhythms of Bulgarian tradition dance with the freedom of improvisation, echoing against stone cliffs and pines. Shepherds pause their flocks to listen, children stop their games, and even the wind seems to slow, weaving itself into the melody.

For him, the mountains are the perfect audience. They do not applaud, yet they answer back—through rushing rivers, whispering trees, and the long resonance of valleys that never forget a sound. Each performance feels eternal, as if the music becomes part of the landscape itself.

Some say that on quiet evenings, if you listen closely in Smolyan, you can still hear his saxophone drifting down the slopes—music born from the soul of Bulgaria, carried by the breath of the mountains.