The king is back. Long live the king!

Ton Maas | October 2008 issue

Ivo Papasov, Dance of the Falcon. World Village.

Photo: Ton Maas

When clarinet player Ivo Papasov had his international breakthrough in 1989 with the CD Orpheus Ascending, nothing seemed to stand in the way of a glorious career. Outside his native Bulgaria, almost no one was familiar with the swirling and enticing wedding music from Thrace, which puts the dancing crowd into a frenzy for hours on end. The best wedding bands sometimes keep the party going for more than 24 hours. On top of that, Papasov managed to pair the advanced mathematics of odd Bulgarian metres with the musical eloquence of heavyweights such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Unfortunately, Hannibal Records, the label owned by Joe Boyd, who discovered and signed Papasov, ran into problems, and he disappeared from the scene as suddenly as he’d risen to fame. Almost 10 years later, when music writer Garth Cartwright—researching his book Princes Amongst Men: Journeys with Gypsy Musicians, portraying key musical figures across the Balkans—was asking around for Papasov, every Bulgarian musician he spoke with knew and admired him, but nobody had any clue as to his whereabouts.

The mystery deepened in 2003, when without warning, Papasov delivered a new CD. Fairground proved he’d lost none of his chops. Released by an obscure label, this was nevertheless a comeback strong enough to lead to an unexpected Audience Award at the 2005 BBC World Music Awards. The king of Thracian wedding music has been a regular at international festivals ever since.

Now comes Dance Of The Falcon, nothing short of a revelation. Papasov enters the domain of jazz, without losing touch with his Thracian roots. No more vocals and occasional solos from other band members this time: The album zooms in on Papasov’s phenomenal clarinet, propelled by hard-driving percussion. Its lightest touch is Papasov’s humorous yet deeply musical “balkanization” of the well-known “Pink Panther Theme.”