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| Picture credit: By Sefer azeri - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122625891 |
We arrive in Azerbaijan's capital and commercial hub Baku on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Here the traditional music styles of the country often get blended with other influences.
First we meet Folk fusion band Rast, who combine their traditional Mugham with Jazz, pop and sometimes rock. They were established in 1992 with lead singer Sevdah Alekperzadeh. The name Rast refers to a musical modal system in Mugham music. Here is a cut from a concert for their 20th anniversary. For more check out their 2014 album Rast Dünyası.
Jazz pianist, singer and composer Aziza Mustafa Zadeh was born in Baku in 1969. She came from a musical family, her father also being a pianist and her mother a singer. They discovered her musical talent when she was only 8 years old. Her style is more pure jazz with only some hints of Mugham, which mostly shows when she is singing. She is now based in Germany. Here is the instrumental title track to her 2016 album Dance of Fire:
More traditional is singer Sevda Alekbarzadeh, who was born in Baku in 1977. She is classically trained including in opera and jazz. She incorporates some of the latter into her Mugham compositions. She is known for her powerful voice. Here is the opening track from her 2012 album Worlds of Love called Ele deme (Don't talk that way):
The career of singer Azerin began at the tender age of 5, when she became a soloist of the Azerbaijan State Television and Radio. She was born in Baku in 1971. She combines tradtitional mugham with elements of pop and Jazz. Here is a song from her 2015 album Yüreklerde Biriz called Küçelere Su Serpmişem:
Finally another female singer called Aygün Kazımova, born 1971 in Baku, who veers more towards Azerbaijani flavoured pop with some Latin thrown in as well as, like in the video below, a sprinkling of Riverdance. She is one of the bestselling artists in the country, hence her inclusion here. Here is a song called Я и Ты from her bestselling 200 album Aygün:
That's it from Baku for the moment, we'll explore the rest of the country next. Meanwhile you can follow my virtual tour on my Tripline map.
