Balkanology

• Artist: Ivo Papasov & His Orchestra
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1991
• Total Time: 54:12
• Genre: World

Review

One of the most revered musicians in Bulgaria, clarinetist Ivo Papasov is a master of Bulgarian wedding music. The superb and largely instrumental Balkanology draws not only on Bulgarian elements, but also the music of Greece, Turkey and Romania. Listening to this heartfelt music (much of it quite fast), one can hear the parallels between Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and East European forms. Papasov is quite the improviser, and in fact, American jazz has had a significant impact on his loose and very spontaneous modal playing. (Modal or "scalar" improvisation has been a significant part of jazz since the late 1950s.) Of course, Western influence in wedding music is something Bulgaria's old Leninist regime took a dim view of, but with the fall of communism in that country in 1989, the form seemed destined to grow even more popular. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi

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