Azerbaijani music returns to Albania

On Dec. 1, the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Albania will present its musical gift to Albanian public – the concert of famous Azerbaijani jazz group “Emil and friends,” organized in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports of Albania and devoted to the 100thanniversary of the independence of the Republic of Albania.
That will not be the first time when Tirana will listen toAzerbaijani music. Albanians of older generation still remember the concertof famous Azerbaijani singerRashid Behbudov, whohada huge successin Albaniaat the end ofthe 1950s.On the eve of this musical event we would like to inform our readers more on the history and the character of Azerbaijani music.
Music is one of the most essential elements of Azerbaijani cultural heritage and has a long history of traditions that developed through the centuries, exhibiting great variety and reflecting the past. It is the art ofmughamthat lies at the heart of Azerbaijani traditional music.Mughamis a highly complex art form combining the classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is the general name for the largest genre in Azerbaijani traditional music and comes in a variety of forms. The largest form in term of size and concept is thedastgahor mode. A dastgah is a vocal and instrumental composition similar to a suite. Dastgahs are usually performed by a small ensemble or trio that consists of a singer (called akhananda) and twi instrumentalists who play the tar and kamancha, traditional string instruments.
Jazzcame to Azerbaijan in the mid-20thcentury and had some traditional music elements added into it. The foundation of Azerbaijani jazz was laid by maestros Tofig Quliyev and Niyazi and the State Pop Orchestra at the end of 1930s. After World War II, jazz performances were banned by communist authorities of the Soviet Union for some time. But in the late 1960s, jazz music began its second life in Azerbaijan.
The mugham-jazz became very popular for its uniqueness as this new genre was combining Azerbaijani classical and mugham music with Western jazz and creating a musical fusion of the West and East.
Mugam-jazz school was enriched later by new jazz generation of Azerbaijan which is promoting nowadays various directions of mugham-jazz throughout the world.
Emil Afrasiyab,the prize winner of Montreux International Jazz Festival in 2011 is not only a talented young jazz pianist in the classical sense of the word, but also a bright representative of this mugham-jazz school.
His jazz group “Emil and friends” already won the hearts of music lovers in many countries. Emil continues traditions ofmugam-jazzschool, by taking elements of Azerbaijani classical and mugam music and blending them with Western jazz, thus creating unique musical fusion of East and West, which is very typical not only for music, but for the whole culture of Azerbaijan.
The concert which will take place on the Dec. 1 at National Theatre and Opera will showcase this particular feature of Azerbaijani music, its multi-layered genre and will include folk songs and melodies, classical works of famous Azerbaijani composers,solomugam-jazz compositions and improvisations by “Emil Afrasiyab and friends” jazz group.
“While welcoming our guests from Azerbaijan, webelieve that this ‘musical souvenir’ as the joint project of the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Albania and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports of Albania will open new bright page in the history of cultural cooperation between our friendly countries,” said the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Albania in a statement.