Asen Ovcharov and Bulgarian Popular Music, a new book by Assoc. Prof. Mihail Lukanov, PhD

The newly published monograph by Assoc. Prof. Mihail Lukanov, PhD, is dedicated to the life and work of Asen Ovcharov – a key figure in Bulgarian music history, whose contribution to the development of jazz and popular music in Bulgaria is difficult to overestimate. Titled “father” and “originator” of Bulgarian jazz, he occupies a central place in the history of our modern culture, and through his many years of activity as a leader of jazz formations, arranger, and pedagogue, he left a lasting imprint on it.
The book traces Ovcharov’s biographical path and his multi-layered career – from the founding of the first Bulgarian jazz orchestras in the 1930s and his pioneering activity as an organiser and bandleader to his dedicated work as a teacher at the Music School in Plovdiv. Relying on his talent and rich musical erudition, he cultivated tastes and aesthetic orientations, introducing the Bulgarian audience to the rhythms of jazz. His musical activity is inseparable from his role as a pedagogue and musical educator – a circumstance that favoured the later development of jazz art in Bulgaria.
The text also takes into account the socio-historical context in which the artist worked. His biography is marked by numerous misfortunes stemming from the political conjuncture after 1950, when jazz proved to be outside most legitimate forms of music mediation. However, Ovcharov maintained his commitment to the genre and successfully inscribed it in the country's cultural image. In this context, the Bulgarian music scene, both before and after the Second World War, is also considered, with support in and references to the work of the musician.