The rattling horns and quick step piano keys of the title track produce ornate twirls and an odd timing beat as the instruments adjust to each other’s tinkering. The interacting harmonies create a trellis effect, erecting one building after another into full cities knitted from the blocks of instrument parts. The agility of the chord movements and the free-style concepts of "Rondo ala Bulgar" and "Frohleher Landman" are naturally spun with brackets of improvisations emerging from the brash and bold horn sections and staggering cymbal strikes. The tracks are originally scripted with a chipotle-zest giving the chords an extra kick every now and again. The serene modulations of "Like Sonny" and "Sianie" are fashionably splayed, while the somber tones of "Night and Day" are traditionally swathed. The gentle piano keys of "Prelude in F" fall like raindrops over the calm mood of the melody, as Koleva’s vocals in "You Must Believe In Spring" and "The Island" display both a strong and angelic voicing with the music caressing her chords. The finessed sonic swirls are softly lit with a torchlight illumination reminiscent of Shirley Bassey.
Plamen studied music at the State Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria and later acquired a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In the USA, he has performed with Gene Perla, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Cobb, Richie Barshay, and many others. Plamen Karadonev’s debut album Crossing Lines is made from concepts that experiment with note values and combinations which place them in a beaker that produces different instrument possibilities and degrees of sonic explosions. The album shows views of both free-style expressions and smooth soul-jazz vibrations performed in the mind first before reaching a physical form, similarly to the way slates of cities are built. The music is open and controlled and very personalized to Plamen Karadonev and his crew using a mentality that is familiar to a city planner who constructs a block of buildings.
