King Ferus Mustafov

King Ferus Mustafov is a major star in his homeland of Macedonia, where sales of his albums average more than 100,000 copies. A highly skilled instrumentalist and master improviser, Mustafov has helped to turn the gypsy wedding music of Macedonia into an international phenomenon. In a description of his music, Dirty Linen wrote, "dueling accordions, scratchy electric guitars, solid rhythm section dominate and it all gets fed by some wild vocals." A native of Sutka, a gypsy suburb of the capital city of Skopje, Mustafov inherited his understanding of music from his father, Ilimi Jasarov, who is credited with introducing the saxophone to Macedonian wedding music. Since building a six-track recording studio in his bedroom, in the late '80s, Mustafov has produced recordings by such Macedonian gypsy performers as Kurtis Jasarov, Medo Cun, and Demir Agusev. Many of these recordings were featured on the album, Ferus Mustafov and His Guests: 1 + 4. Mustafov's own album, Macedonian Wedding Soul Cooking, released in 1995, was produced by Hijaz Mustapha of Three Mustapha Three. ~ Craig Harris