Zhivko Vasilev - Photo by: Agata Sandecor
Wenge wood kaval – Pro

Biography

My story...

Zhivko Vasilev is a Bulgarian kaval player, composer and educator, and one of the leading voices of his instrument on the international stage. His career has carried the kaval well beyond its traditional setting: he has performed at Glastonbury with his ethno-jazz band Outhentic, at the North Sea Jazz Festival and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw with the world-music quartet Arifa, and at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai with the trio Harmelogic, and he has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Bulgaria and abroad. He leads the Zhivko Vasilev Quintet, and his solo album Places (2021) was received by the European jazz press as a convincing meeting of Bulgarian folklore and jazz. Across all of this work runs a single purpose: to establish the kaval as a full citizen of contemporary music, fluent in jazz, funk, Latin, pop and electronic idioms while remaining unmistakably itself.

Vasilev was born and raised in Smolyan, in the Rhodope Mountains, and inherited his love of music from his father. He received his formal training on the kaval at the "Dobri Hristov" National School of Arts in Varna, earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" in 2014, and completed a master's degree in jazz at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam in 2021. By the time he arrived in Rotterdam he was already an experienced performer and recording artist; the jazz degree formalised what had long defined his playing, a command of both Bulgarian folklore and jazz that treats them not as neighbouring traditions but as one musical language.

Bands and collaborations

Zhivko leads his own projects - the ethno-jazz band Outhentic and the Zhivko Vasilev Quintet - and in 2020 joined the internationally touring quartet Arifa. He also performs in the trio Harmelogic. In 2016 he recorded kaval on The Blue Road, the album by Latin Grammy-nominated bassist Juan Garcia-Herreros (The Snow Owl). Along the way he has shared the stage and studio with artists including Christiane Karam, Roberto Quintero, Hector Martignon, Franz von Chossy, Sjahin During, Stoyan Yankoulov, Federico Pascucci, Tatiana Koleva, Angel Zaberski, Mihail Yosifov and the Wladigeroff Brothers.

On stage around the world

His kaval has been heard on some of the most respected stages in world and jazz music (each linked to the festival or press that documents it):

With the orchestra

As a soloist he has brought the kaval into the symphonic world, appearing with the Sofia Philharmonic, the Varna Opera Orchestra, the Banatul Philharmonic in Timisoara, the Vratsa Symphony Orchestra and the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble.

Composing and awards

Since 2022 Zhivko has also worked as a media composer, writing for games, film and advertising, with projects for Euro Games Technology, Huawei, Coca-Cola and the "Our Home is Bulgaria" Foundation. In 2023 he won first prize in the composition competition of Palms Music and the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" for his work "La Andaluza".

Press

All About Jazz - "Wherever Vasilev's pieces go on the genre map, propulsive energy churns throughout this session. It's a wild ride that somehow packs an entire whirlwind global tour into just one thrilling hour."

Jazz in Europe - "Vasilev's music takes the listener on a journey through the Balkans, the Orient and then to the American jazz that tastefully blends with the classical traditions in Europe."

World Music Central - on Arifa's Danubian Voyage: the kaval "adds a new dimension to their repertoire, enchanting listeners with its evocative timbre."

Jazz.sk - on his album: "The enchanting soundscapes make it one of the most interesting instrumental discoveries of the year."