Ferus Mustafov, also known as King Ferus Mustafov, is a Romani saxophonist from Macedonia and multi-instrumentalist who is highly popular in his home country for his repertoire of Balkan folk

Music of Southeastern Europe

The music of Southeastern Europe or Balkan music is a type of music distinct from others in Europe. This is mainly because it was influenced by traditional music of Southeastern European ethnic groups and mutual music influences of these ethnic groups in the period of the Ottoman Empire...

 and gypsy, or Rom, wedding music. He is also credited as one of the artists from the Balkan

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 region to have made this type of music internationally popular.

He was born in Štip

Štip

Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...

, in the east of the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

, into a Rom family of musicians and is the son of Ilmi Jašarov who is credited with introducing the saxophone into the folk music of the area. His professional career began at the age of seventeen whilst studying violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 and clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

 at his local junior music academy. During this time he was invited to go on tour with a band led by Toma Črčev and the tour's success led him to abandon his academic learning to become a working musician. Following a year of military service, during which he established his reputation playing at evening dances, he moved to Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, where he took a leading role in the explosion in popularity of folk music taking place there at the time. Later, he became a director of musical programming in the Rom language for Radio Television in Skopje

Skopje

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

, Republic of Macedonia, and gained an international audience through his album releases on world music

World music

World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

 record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

s such as Globe Style

Ace Records (UK)

Ace Records Ltd. was started in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick's pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing...

 and Tropical.

Albums

• Ora i Coceci (Horas And Belly Dance Music) (1984), RTB
  PGP-RTB
  PGP-RTB was a major record label and chain record store in the former SFR Yugoslavia based in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia. PGP-RTB was established in 1958...
  
  
• Ferus Mustafov & His Guests: 1 + 4 (1989), Diskos
• Najgolemi Hitovi (Greatest Hits) (1993), Falcon
• King Ferus also known as Macedonian Wedding Soul Cooking (1995), Globe Style
  Ace Records (UK)
  Ace Records Ltd. was started in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick's pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing...
  
  
• The Heat of Balkan Gypsy Soul (2002), Tropical
• Legends of Gypsy Music from Macedonia (2008), Arc

External links

• Balkan World Music Management management agency biography
• Ferus Mustafov on discogs.com
• [ King Ferus Mustafov] on allmusic.com