Ivo Papazov (or Papasov; bg, Иво Папазов; born 16 February 1952), nicknamed Ibryama (), is a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
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clarinetist. He leads the "Ivo Papazov Wedding Band" in performances of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
-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, clarinetist Neshko Neshev and accordionists 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 масата'' ("Guess who is under the table").
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
Hannibal Records was a British record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre.
Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport ...
in the early 1990s." Papazov and his Wedding Band have toured the United States several times.
In 2005, Papazov won the Audience Award from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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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 Papazov is a Bulgarian
and his original name is Ibrahim (Turkish name). Papazov has stated: "I am one of the few light skinned people in my family but I know I am Romani."
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 (adapted from Ibo, short for Ibrahim). He speaks Turkish and comes from
, 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, in his case to focus on playing music for a living.