''Lea Ivanova'' (13 August 1923 – 28 May 1986) was a Bulgarian jazz singer.

Biography

Ivanova was born in

Dupnitsa Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( bg, Дупница (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot of the highest mountains in the Balkan Peninsula – the Rila Mountains, and about south of the capital Sofia. Dupnitsa is the second ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

on 13 August 1923. She moved to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

( Underaged?? ), where she spent the rest of her childhood and sang in the children's choir of the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Con ...

. In 1940s, she came back to Bulgaria ( 17 years old ?? ), where her intention was to study art at Sofia, Bulgarian capitol. She joined Slavic Talk jazz orchestra as a soloist instead when saxophonist

Leon L'Alfàs Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

suggested her to join. In the early 50s, she performed with various jazz and swing outfits. In 1956, she worked with the orchestras of

Christo Vuchkov Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...

and

Dimitar Ganev Dimitar Varbanov Ganev (28 October 1898 in Gradets, Sliven Province – 20 April 1964) was a Bulgarian communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, ...

for Big Orchestra Concert Directorate conductors of which were Boris Simeonov and Emil Georgiev. During this period, she wrote a commercial jingle for a department store TsUM and ''Chico from Puerto Rico'' which was in Latin American style. In 1957, she and her husband,

Eddie Kazasyan Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

, formed

Eddy Kazassian Combo Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

orchestra with which they spent 30 years together. They performed in Belgrade in 1960 with

Quincy Jones And His Orchestra Quincy may refer to: People * Quincy (name), including a list of people with the name Quincy *Quincy political family, including members of the family Places and jurisdictions France *Quincy, Cher, a commune in the Cher département * A hamlet ...

, and in 1962 and 1963 at

Friedrich Shtadt Palace Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

in Berlin. From 1963 to 1983, Ivanova worked in various variety shows which included French

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

Russian romance Russian romance (russian: рома́нс ''románs'') is a type of sentimental art song with hints of Gypsy influence that was developed in Imperial Russia by such composers as Nikolai Titov (1800-1875), Alexander Alyabyev (1787–1851), Alexa ...

s, Bulgarian

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...

and Italian

canzone Literally "song" in Italian, a '' canzone'' (, plural: ''canzoni''; cognate with English ''to chant'') is an Italian or Provençal song or ballad. It is also used to describe a type of lyric which resembles a madrigal. Sometimes a composition ...

. She also shared a stage with

Gilbert Bécaud Gilbert Bécaud (, 24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001) was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are " Nathalie" and "Et maintenant", a 1961 release ...

and

Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...

. Her music was banned in her home country, and she even was imprisoned and sent to a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...

for promoting retrogressive sound and obscene behavior. After her release, she continued with her career till her final days. She died of cancer on 28 May 1986. Her labels include Bulgarian

Balkanton Balkanton ( bg, Балкантон) was a state-owned record manufacturing company in Bulgaria founded in 1952. Many of the produced records were, or still are available in the countries of the former Soviet Bloc. Balkanton's plant in Sofia was ...

, German

Deutsche Vogue Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to: *''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places *''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym *Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...

, Hungarian Qaliton, Polish

MUZA Muza may refer to: Places * Muza, Pomeranian Voivodeship, a village Poland * Mawza District or Muza, a district of the Taiz Governorate, Yemen * Muza Emporion, an ancient emporion on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea in modern Yemen * MUŻA, an a ...

and Romanian Electrorecord.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanova, Lea 1923 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Bulgarian women singers Bulgarian jazz singers People from Dupnitsa