Looking back at Milcho Leviev’s artistic trajectory also means retracing a crucial chapter in the cultural history of post-war Europe and beyond. Although jazz was officially condemned by communist regimes as a symbol of Western decadence and American cultural imperialism, it had already taken root in Eastern Europe well before the war. From the 1950s onward, movements of remarkable vitality emerged within the countries of the Warsaw Pact, deeply informed by African American musical culture and by strong national traditions. It was in this context that the name of Milcho Leviev (Plovdiv, 1932–Thessaloniki, 2019) began circulating on the western side of the Iron Curtain in the mid-1960s. After graduating from the Bulgarian State Academy in 1960 with degrees in piano and composition, he entered an exceptionally intense creative phase. Between 1962 and 1966, Leviev directed the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band, experimenting with works such as Studia, Blues in 9 […]
“Politically Inappropriate”: The Strange Career of Milcho Leviev
A formidable virtuoso and a composer held in high esteem, the Bulgarian pianist who would later become a naturalized American citizen led a career as rich as it was unconventional.
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