We all gave them the night of July 19, the hot Sofia summer night, or rather evening.

Hall 1 in the National Palace of Culture (NDK in Bulgarian) was full, to my big surprise, I had thought this unlikely, given that the cheapest tickets were 100 leva, somewhat above the norm for concerts in Bulgaria. It appeared that the country has many more jazz fans than I had imagined, especially admirers of jazz legends George Benson and Al Jarreau.

In addition, the concert started almost on time, unlike most of the other music events that I have visited in this hall. Oh, well, maybe much depends on the artist.

Jarreau opened the show at 7.45pm. The 67-year-old, seven-time Grammy award winner showed no sign of having thoughts about his pension, as he invigorated the audience and the venue, just as Benson did later.

I had expected that the two would give a duo performance, but even though this was not the case, I enjoyed the concert immensely. Jarreau did several numbers before Benson came on, and the two started singing songs from their joint project Givin' It Up, released at Christmas 2006.

Jarreau's voice has an amazing range. Decked out in a typical plain jazz outfit consisting of black and white, he epitomised the classic style of the genre. Always in place: his trademark black hat.

Benson, in white trousers and black shirt, resonated machismo. The rest of the recipe was in the exotic spice added by his guitarmanship.

During the concert Jerreau spotted a baby in the audience, and he called out an improvised note: "Bring your children to concerts so that they know that they have a choice". Later on there was another "improvisation" when he referred to MTV as EmptyV. Different strokes.

Bulgaria was the only Eastern European country on the duo's tour, and they well deserved the about 4000 Bulgarians who stayed on their feet during the two hours show at the National Palace of Culture, NDK. Which brings us to some notes about the venue itself.

The light show was somewhat less amazing than the performers, shining in bright yellow, violet and green, not really appropriate for a jazz concert. While the jazz may have been hot, the temperature in the hall was not, in spite of the more than 35 deg C outside. Notwithstanding the hall's dimensions and its 1980s vintage, the air conditioning coped quite well, and apparently is regularly serviced. Still, the seat covers were hardly the stuff for all seasons, as the fluffy material was a bit warmer than necessary for my taste, and after the first 40 minutes, I decided to stand up and stay in the aisle until the end of the concert.

I was not alone in this. Many people took to the aisles, leading to complaints from those behind them who did not want their view of the stage blocked out. One young woman not far behind where I was standing kept up a steady stream of complaints.

Overall, my view is that NDK's Hall 1 is a suitable venue for such events. It is huge, in fact the biggest indoor hall in Bulgaria. For all that, concert organisers should arrange giant screens. Unless you have packed your opera glasses at least or field binoculars at best, it is difficult to see the performers.

The hall takes up three floors of NDK - an immense, communistic building constructed by the daughter of then Bulgarian president Todor Zhivkov, who ruled the country 40 years. The building has 10 or 11 halls of various sizes and hosts various cultural, art and business events.

The Benson and Jarreau concert also feature what was described as a "magic event" on radio Jazz FM, one of the organisers. On the day following the big event, Jazz FM had an on-air phone interview with a young woman who apparently became a mother just after the concert. Her husband and she, who was due in two weeks, were relishing the Benson-Jarreau concert when she felt "something" and went to the NDK toilet beneath Hall 1 (which is, by the way, quite far from the most pleasant loo that anyone could use, more resembling a bunker than a rest room). However, she decided to stay for the rest of the concert, then quietly went home with her husband, prepared her luggage and left for the hospital. Three hours later her son was born. In the hospital, the baby was dubbed "the jazz man". "He will be brought up with jazz and rock music, but in any case, not chalga (pop-folk)," the young mother said on the radio. The presenter responded that after hearing Benson and Jarreau, the baby decided to come out because he heard that the world was a nice place to be. Not a story that you hear every day.