'scuse me while I kiss the sky ...

 

  

SVETLYO ZHILEV

A Concise Biography

Svetlyo Zhilev was born in 1965 in Gotze Delchev, Bulgaria. He acquired the love for music from his mother who used to sing Bulgarian folk songs to him throughout his childhood. He plays the bagpipe since he was 10 years old. From 1975 to 1982 Svetlyo was a member of the Gotze Delchev bagpipe orchestra, which consists of 40 bagpipes. During the period he carefully and systematically studied the diversity of bagpipes and techniques of playing in Bulgarias various cultural regions - from Macedonia to the Black Sea and from Dobruja to the Rhodopes. He was influenced by the works of Kostadin Varimezov, Kolyo Atanasov, Iliya Dimitrov, Dafo Trendafilov, Stefo Zahmanov, and others. Once, Svetlio combined a single voice with the disharmonious melody of the dvoyanka bagpipe, and thus created a new bagpipe sound utilizing a basic double tone a techique none of his predecessors had though of. His first solo album "Demo" was released in 2001, followed by "The Three Bagpipes" in 2003, "Wild Stories" in 2005, and "Marmoreal Apparitions" in 2006.

The international music festivals, in which he performed include:

1978 Sech - Czech Republic
1979 Strumica and Ohrid - Macedonia
1980 & 1982 Belgrad - Serbia
1988 Praha - Czech Republic
1990 Moscow - Russia
2006 Drezden Germany

 

Svetlyo Zhilev is a Bulgarian bagpipe player and folklore singer. He plays authentic songs and melodies from Bulgaria. Natural talent, he has developed an amazing technique with his jora and kaba bagpipes. Notable for his pure performance on pipe, drum and vocal abilities, he has also re-arranged classic rock songs including covers of Deep Purple and Jimmy Hendrix in the unique Bulgarian folklore style.

...no question I love his traditional playing a lot... 

...Deep Purple in Bulgaria... 

...who are we to tell... 

...and... 

'scuse me while I kiss the sky ... 
:-)

some more ?!

 

Demko Kurtov's Zurna Group~zurna

 Zurna has this beautiful,round ,piercing but refreshing sound,the closest image i can think of, is that of transparent sea urchins materializing and exploding in the air-the trumpets of Jericho  must have sounded similarly,a powerful   and demanding instrument  to tumble down the walls of modern babylon  ,so inspired by kokolo's previous post,let's  roll on.
a glorious net find ,that goes for you Miguel that you love the zurna sound so well :)and for all  of you of course....

The zurna, a wooden whistle with cane reed and oboe-like sound, is among the most colourful wind instruments in traditional Bulgarian music. In the past, the zurna instrument was used throughout Bulgaria, but today this tradition has been preserved in Southwest Bulgaria only. Some performers, descendants of folk musicians, still sustain the zurna tradition in these regions. One of the most outstanding representatives is the Kurtov family from the village of Kavrakirovo, Petrich municipality. Just as the founder of the Kurtov musical family, Kurta Demo Limanov, his followers Ismail, Shein, Demko, Selim, Asen and others, carry the tradition of the family and preserve the characteristic Petrich style of performance. Demko Kurtov's Zurna Group is the most active of them. Besides him, it includes his son Samir (Krassimir), his brother-in-law Lyuben Fetov, and his nephew Ognyan Fetov. Incredible virtuoso players, they demonstrate in a convincing way the possibilities of the zurna instrument.

zurna