Vladimir Karparov Band- Gipsy Smile

Concert at BNR Sofia, organised from Goethe Institut 10.October 2008
Vladimir Karparov-sax, Dimitris Christides-drums, Kelvin Sholar- piano, Horst Nonnenmacher- bass, Nedyalko Nedyalkov- kaval, Peyo Peev- gadulka, Stoyan Yankoulov- tupan

The Vladimir Karparov Band released in 2008 his debut CD Thracian Dance by META RECORDS. The band played already at different jazzfestivals, music and culture events as: Festival Jazz-Meeting Berlin, Lange Nacht der Museen in Hamburg, Plovdiv Jazz Nights Festival, Balkan Fever 2009 in Vienna, Porgy&Bess Jazzclub Vienna, Concert in Sofia organised from Goethe Institute-Sofia, Art Jazz Club Bucharest, Jazzclub B flat in Berlin, Cave 61 in Heilbronn, IG Jazz Freiberg, Kurhauskeller Bad Kreuznach, Jazzclub Nordhausen, an many others.

Vladimir Karparov was born and grew up in Bulgarias capital, Sofia; he discovered
music at an early age and already began playing the saxophone as a child. He studied
at the State Academy of Music Pancho Vladigerov in Sofia from 1995 to 1999, with
jazz and popular music as his main areas of concentration. He quickly realized that his
fascination gravitated more towards jazz; to deepen his knowledge in this area, he
applied for a scholarship to Hamburgs Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HfMT),
with success. Yet the longer Vladimir Karparov lived away from his home country, the
more intensively he began investigating Bulgarian folk music, which gradually
became an essential and irrevocable component of his music.
Berlins richly fertile, multi-cultural jazz scene exerted a magical attraction on the
young saxophonist. Karparov moved to the German capital in 2002 to continue his
studies at Berlins Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler and graduated in 2005 with a
degree in saxophone and teaching. His participation in various festival events as well
as numerous concerts and awards in Europe, India, and Japan, together with his
collaboration with names both on the American jazz scene and in Western and Eastern
Europe, complete the picture of this versatile musician: Vladimir Karparov has played
and/or toured with Theodosii Spassov, Jiggs Whigham, Milcho Leviev, Gerard Presencer, Ivo
Papazov, Peter Herbolzheimer , Kenny Wheeler, Okay Temiz , John Hollenbeck, Stoyan Yankoulov, Martin Lubenov and
many more to realize a wide spectrum of musical visions. After playing on a number
of various projects, Karparov has released in 2008 his first album Thracian Dance.