Ivo Papasov and His Wedding Band
Buenek in Kavarna

Songs

live record
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Ivo Papasov live recorded at a festival in the city of Kavarna/Bulgaria. The only live audio and video release to the moment, available from the great clarinetto master from Bulgaria.

Ivo Papasov

Ivo Papasov was born in Kurdzhali, Bulgaria in 1952. He was only nine years old when he first got involved with music. At first he learned the accordion, but in line with his family tradition he moved on to the clarinet. His great grandfathers were zurna players, but his grandfather became the first clarinet player in Thrace, a region that encompasses what is now southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece and Turkey. Papasov's father and his musician colleagues were so impressed by the mastery and skills which he showed as he taught himself the clarinet that they sent him to a children’s music school with the clarinetist Peter Filipov. But his real school turned out to be the multitude of weddings where Ivo went with his father and where he learned to master the instrument and develop his virtuoso technique. In 1974, when he was only 22 years old, he formed his first band. Starting with a purely traditional repertoire, it gradually incorporated more and more improvisation, combining a diversity of styles. In 1982, because of his origins and his popularity among the Turkish population in Bulgaria, he was arrested, beaten and sentenced to work in a labour camp. Not long after that, Papasov became a celebrity among Bulgarian students and intellectuals who found in his music the freedom which was lacking in official Bulgarian culture. In the late 1980's he was 'discovered' by Joe Boyd, who opened Papasov’s way to the big stage. His popularity led to the recording of two albums: "Orpheus Ascending" (1989) and "Balkanology" (1991), released by Hannibal Records and produced by Joe Boyd himself. Subsequently there were tours in the USA, Canada and Britain, and his career was officially on its way. .In 2005, Papasov won the BBC Radio 3 World Music Audience Award. Joe Boyd handed him the prize at an official ceremony in Newcastle. Back in Bulgaria, Ivo Papasov went on to receive numerous prizes including the special BG radio prize for his role as the world ambassador of Bulgarian music, the Golden Award of the Atlantic Club and the great Inspiration prize of the 10th anniversary of the House of the Arts.