Kosta Apostoloff on Makedonia Records

The Kosta Orchestra of Gary, Indiana was active in 1940’s to early 1950’s. It was headed by Kosta Apostoloff. Kosta was born in Village Chereshnitsa (Aegean Macedonia) in 1898 during the Ottoman occupation. He died in 1956 at the early age of 57 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Kosta married Tinka (Katherine) Glavcheva (another Macedonian) of Village Chereshnitsa in 1928. They were married in Canton, Ohio. They had a son, Carl, in 1929 and another son, Boris, 18 months later. Kosta ran the Gary Shoe Supply Company on 1549 Massachusetts Avenue in Gary, Indiana.

Kosta played the clarinet in the band. Members of the band that played for the recordings included his son Carl who played drums, son Boris (Bobby) who played the cornet, Angie Evanoff who played the accordion, and Boris (Bob) Evanoff who played the saxophone. Angie and Boris Evanoff were not related. It is interesting to note that in 1946 or 1947, when the recordings were made, the Apostoloff boys were in high school. Another member of the band that played after the recordings were pressed was Lillian Gulaboff who played the accordion.

All the recordings were recorded in one day in Chicago, Illinois. Most were done with just one take. I suspect that the studios of the Balkan Record Company were used for the sessions.

Carl Apostoloff is married and lives in Hobart, Indiana. Boris Apostoloff currently resides in Milan, Italy. After the band disbanded, he sang opera and taught English in the Italian schools. Boris never married. All other members of the band are deceased.

Carl thinks that there were 12 records recorded, a total of 24 tunes. This site has 8 of the 12 known records. Recordings not presented here would be appreciated. Remastering was accomplished by John Pappas in March 2007.