✨ FOR YOUR GRAMMY® CONSIDERATION ✨
The Bus Came By and I Got On
Kristina Marinova
✨ FOR YOUR GRAMMY® CONSIDERATION ✨
Categories:
🏆 Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
🏆 Best Arrangement, Instrumentals or A Cappella (TRACK - Cryptical Envelopment - The Other One - Cryptical Envelopment)
🎹 Kristina Marinova — The Bus Came By And I Got On
This project represents a deeply personal and artistic journey—one that blends rich, innovative arrangements with heartfelt classical expression. Each piece has been crafted with meticulous attention to detail and passion, inviting listeners to embark on a unique sonic adventure that both honors tradition and pushes creative boundaries.
In The Bus Came By And I Got On, Kristina Marinova reimagines the music of the Grateful Dead’s legendary 1966–1972 era through daring and virtuosic solo piano arrangements. This project bridges the worlds of classical tradition and rock improvisation, honoring the Dead’s spirit of freedom, experimentation, and emotional depth.
🔗 Listen on Spotify: [Spotify Album Link]
🔗 Album on Navona Records: [Navona Records Album Page]
Highlights
Iconic tracks like Morning Dew, China Cat Sunflower → I Know You Rider, and The Other One
Released on Navona Records
Performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, SweetWater Music Hall, and Tarrytown Music Hall, Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club
Press Praise
💬”Virtuosic and confident, with delicacy and power in equal measure! Exquisite dynamic and emotional range, lush layers of pulsing rhythm, rolling waves of counterpoint — it really does sound like four hands.”
💬 “Her gifts are remarkably well-suited to the band’s music. An amazing achievement.”
💬”If you thought the Grateful Dead’s whirlwind psychedelia didn’t belong on solo piano, you’d be dead wrong… Marinova captures the sonic tapestry of the Dead’s music with a devotee-pleasing setlist designed to replicate a Dead concert.”
💬”Outstanding… the dexterity of a master’s hands as if discovering the canon for the first time. She captures the essence of exploration, urgency, expression, and exaltation.”
💬”Timelessly classic, yet fresh and modern, highly original yet evocative of Jerry and the boys, Gershwin, Guaraldi, and Rachmaninoff. This isn’t background music—it’s immersive art.”
💬”Exhilarating and infectious!”
💬”Goosebumps… beautiful sonata-like symmetry and balance.”
💬”Morning Dew is breathtaking, Cryptical/Other One is astonishing… each listen reveals greater depth and subtlety.”
Artist Bio
Experience the brilliance and versatility of Kristina Marinova, a classically trained European pianist who brings a bold new voice to the legacy of the Grateful Dead. In her latest album, The Bus Came By and I Got On, Marinova reimagines seventeen iconic songs from the band’s 1966 beginnings through their landmark 1972 European tour, transforming them into a cinematic solo piano journey. With only a grand piano at her side, she channels the spirit of an early-'70s Dead show—complete with improvisational segues and encore-worthy fireworks. Renowned for her virtuosity, expressive depth, and magnetic stage presence, Kristina has been described as a performer of “extreme energy and youthful vibrance.” Her playing has been praised for its “clear and precise tone,” stormy intensity, and graceful elegance. Classical Music Review called her Carnegie Hall recital, 4 Rhapsodies, “a feast for the ears,” while Nagamag Magazine lauded her touch as “like a message from God”—“dazzling, tender, virtuosic, and emotional.”
A native of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Kristina holds a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, where she earned a full graduate fellowship. She later continued her studies in the Keyboard Collaborative Arts Program at the University of Southern California (USC). She has appeared at major international music festivals as a soloist, collaborator, educator, and lecturer, working alongside some of the world’s most respected musicians. Kristina is a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY®) and serves as the President of Collaborative Piano at the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA).
LISTEN
