ENORMOUS JAZZ

Jazz is beautiful due to its democratic nature. It unites the audience," well-known US saxophone player Kenny Garrett said in conclusion of his performance at the Baku International Jazz Festival.

Indeed, this incredibly emotional and beautiful music brought together over 10 days both the numerous viewers and musicians, who arrived in Baku from every corner of the world for the jazz festival.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Qarayev said in his opening remarks that special attention has been paid in Azerbaijan in recent years to the promotion of jazz.

Famous French actor Gerard Depardieu was among the visitors of this important musical event of Baku.

"I have come here to see my friends, I have a lot of acquaintances in Azerbaijan, and the festival is wonderful too, I am fond of jazz. So, these are my reasons for coming to Baku," Depardieu told journalists.

Concerts held as part of the jazz festival took place in four venues, namely, the Heydar Aliyev Palace, International Mugam Center, Baku Jazz Center and Rasid Behbudov State Song Theater.

Great improvisers 

The iconic music festival kicked off with a performance of an American quartet led by the acclaimed tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman.

Redman told R+ that he liked Baku. "Everything seems to be filled with music here!" the musician said excitingly.

The quartet also includes Aaron Goldberg (piano), Reuben Rogers (bass) and Gregory Hutchinson (percussion).

The quartet performed new jazz compositions and works by Joshua Redman created for ensemble performances, as well as selected pieces from the US musician's lyrical ballads album Walking Shadows, which was released this year.

Redman is one of the musicians who shot to fame in the 1990s, have played with a plethora of great improvisers and gained acclaim among both the public and critics.

It turned out that Mozart and Chopin's music blend perfectly with jazz compositions. This confluence was brilliantly demonstrated by the Cangi jazz band led by Mircavad Cafarov.

"The idea of such a concert program came to my mind when I realized that jazz and mugam are similar. Both involve improvising. When my son was playing classical tunes on a tar (musical instrument), is seemed to me that it was jazz," Cafarov told R+.

As part of the Baku International Jazz Festival the International Mugam Centre also hosted a concert of Azerbaijani and German musicians, Afqan Rasul (piano), Ruslan Huseynov (bass guitar) and Samuel Rohrer (percussion).

It is worth mentioning that drummer Samuel Rohrer, a nominee for the BMW Jazz Award 2013, also releases albums on ECM Records as part of other projects, which is also the case with other musicians included in the quartet; this undoubtedly indicates a high quality of performing art and professionalism. 

Afqan Rasul is the winner of the fourth nationwide contest of pianists held in 2004. Rasul was remembered by the audience by his performances at the Baku International Jazz Festival from 2005-2012. In 2011, he took part in the Jazz Festival in Perm, Russia, and in 2012 he was among the semi-finalists at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Kenny Garrett, a Grammy Award winner whose concert took place as part of his world tour, performed in Baku as well. Lately Garrett released his last album, Pushing the World Away.

"Everything changes: the music changes, and so do the world and the people. There were once greats like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, but that was a long time ago. Today they have successors of their fame, their traditions, talent and skills. I believe that today there is a choice in musical genres, and jazz is no exception, it is just tremendous! The main thing in jazz is the flow of energy between and audience and the stage; in jazz there is no dividing ramp, so, everyone is involved in improvisations. Jazz is beautiful due to its democratic nature. It unites the audience," Kenny Garrett told R+ while sharing his impressions.

Jazz legends 

The festival ended with a grand concert staged at the Heydar Aliyev Palace. Baku residents and visitors of the Azerbaijani capital enjoyed the performances of Bob James, one of the marquee contemporary romantic jazz musicians, and jazz legend David Sanborn.

Bob James is a famous American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and producer, and one of the founders of jazz fusion, crossover jazz and smooth jazz. The musician regularly performs at jazz festivals and actively tours as part of the Four Play quartet. Each of his new pieces, without an exaggeration, is an event in the world of contemporary jazz.

David Sanborn is a famous American jazz musician, one of the greatest saxophonists of all times. The creative work of Sanborn, who is a six-time Grammy Award winner, has set the tone for modern saxophone music in past decades and has become a guideline for musicians performing in a variety of genres.

The festival also included concerts featuring world-famous musicians Avishai Cohen, Marcus Miller, Christoph Cech, Alexander Mashin and others. Renowned Azerbaijani performers Salman Qambarov, Emil Afrasiyab and other talented young jazz musicians gave concerts as well. 

Azerbaijani jazz was founded in the late 1930s by the state stage orchestra known as "State Jazz", which was established by great musicians Niyazi Quliyev and Tofiq Quliyev. Along with classical jazz compositions the first concert of the orchestra featured their plays. In 1941-1945 and the post-war period the State Jazz was headed by composer Rauf Haciyev. However, in the 1950-60s the Soviet propaganda machine dealt a powerful blow upon the development of this musical genre in the country. In the 1960s pop and jazz music was given a new breath in Azerbaijan with the support and under the guidance of Qara Qarayev, Niyazi Quliyev, Tofiq Quliyev and Rauf Haciyev. The vocal quartet "Gaya" of Rafiq Babayev was created, finally, ushering in the era of Vaqif Mustafazada.