Ivo Papazov

Who is Ivo Papazov?

Ivo Papazov, nicknamed Ibryama, is a Bulgarian clarinetist. He leads the "Ivo Papazov Wedding Band" in performances of jazz-infused Stambolovo music, and is one of the premier creators of the genre known as "wedding band" music in Bulgaria, along with the violinist Georgi Yanev, saxophonist Yuri Yunakov and accordionists Neshko Neshev, Ivan Milev and Peter Ralchev. Together with Emilia they are known as Mames 2001. An orchestra that had great success in the TV show Познай кой е под масатаn.

According to Garth Cartwright, he was "the first Balkan Gypsy musician to win a wide international following with his two Joe Boyd-produced albums for Hannibal Records in the early 1990s." Papasov and his Wedding Band have toured the United States several times.

In 2005 Papasov won the Audience Award from the BBC's Radio3 World Music Awards.

Papasov and Yuri Yunakov are briefly profiled and the recording of "Kurdzhaliiska Ruchenica" from their 2005 album Together Again is analyzed in the popular textbook, Worlds of Music, 5th Edition.

Ivo Papasov was born to a Gypsy family in Bulgaria and his original name is Ibrahim. As a result of the extensive programme of forced nationalisation of ethnic minority groups during Bulgaria's socialist rule, Papazov changed his first name to Ivo. He speaks Turkish and comes from Kardzhali, a city close to Bulgaria’s Turkish and Greek borders. He grew up in a musical family and followed the Balkan Gypsy tradition of leaving school at a young age to focus on playing music for a living.