Akaga

Akaga began in Sofia in 1991 as a nine-member instrumental band, with a rhythm section, percussion and four brass players. Its first concert took place at Slavyanska Beseda Hall, and the debut album Izlagani mechti followed in 1992. Between 1992 and 1998 the group worked regularly for Bulgarian National Television after an invitation from television director Hacho Boyadzhiev. Its music combines jazz and funk with Bulgarian folk elements. Musicians associated with its early development include Christian Alexandrov, Georgi Kornazov, Kalin Velyov and Tsvetan Nedyalkov; subsequent touring took the band across Europe and to Russia. Akaga was formed in 1992 by students of the National Academy of Music in Sofia and counts as the founder of a modern Bulgarian sound, joining fusion jazz, funk, folk material, reggae, soul and hip-hop. The band spent several years working mainly in Scandinavia before returning to Bulgaria in 2007, and its members have kept up a parallel line of collaborations with Bulgarian performers including Grafa, Dicho, Toma and Spens.