Historians used to say that Azerbaijani jazz started in early 1930s. But recent photographs of Dixieland supervised by Mikhail Rolnik show that Baku was already familiar with the style in 1920s. Photos were kept by a grandson of Alexander Rolnik living in Israel. It appears that the orchestra did not affect Jazz in Baku much because most musicians migrated from the USSR to Iran, jazz.ru says. The real history of jazz started a bit later. Jazz in Baku has always been playing a special role: people of Baku usually arrived to the cinema a bit earlier before the film starts to hear their favourite musicians. Baku jazz players were notable all over the city, their popularity was comparable with that of celebrities. The reason is that jazz gives a sense of freedom you could not find anywhere else. Jazz is still respected today, it has many fans of good music, Azerbaijani players are invited to for foreign performances.
Emil Afrasiyab, a famous piano player, will perform at a central square in Vienna on November 16 as part of the event entitled "Azerbaijan - a country of pomegranates", the player told Trend Life.
Performances will be held at the Michaeler Platz where a tent will be set with Azerbaijani products made from pomegranates. The event was organized by the Azerbaijani Ministry for Culture and Tourism, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Austria and the Mayor's Office of Vienna. Locals may try Azerbaijani pomegranate juices and cuisine.
Emil Afrasiyab was born in 1982. He graduated at the musical school of Bulbul in 2000. He studied at the piano faculty with his tutor Professor Farhad Badalbeyli at the Baku Music Academy of Uz.Hajibeyli. He has performed in Germany, Britain, France, Czech Republic, Austria, USA, Cuba, Mexico, China and other states. He is an activist of Azerbaijani culture festivals in foreign states. This year he received the prize of audience sympathies at the 45th International Jazz Festival in Montreux (Switzerland).
Emil Afrasiyab notes that his performance at the festival is not a coincidence. 660 bids were filed for the Montreux jazz festival. Azerbaijan is among the top 10, including Canada, Cuba, USA and Russia. "We competed for the first place but fortune came to a different musician", Emil Afrasiyab says.
15.11.2011 / Author: Zerkalo
