"JAZZAHOLIC"

The voice of this charming man can be heard on the waves of one of the radio channels every weekend. In real life, Rahib AZERI is little different from his radio image - he is modest, pleasant in dialogue, exudes positive emotions and says that the best things in his life occurred by chance. Today Rahib Azeri is one of the most professional radio hosts in Azerbaijan.

- In our time radio is markedly behind television in popularity. Which of these media takes first place for you?

- For me, radio has always taken first place. I believe that radio is much more interesting than television. You could say that I've been living in the radio for almost 19 years and I take great pleasure in music that sounds in my programmes. After all, if good high-quality music is played on the air, and the radio host says interesting things and speaks to the point, such programmes are much more relevant and useful than television. I started with radio, and I feel much more relaxed there than on television. There is no pressure on me from the camera and I can fantasize. Television makes you feel constrained a bit. So for me radio will always be a priority over television.

- However, you run a TV show. Tell us what it's about?

- We show the historical places of Baku and its suburbs inherited from our ancestors. We tell the story of monuments and buildings, passing by which most of us do not even realize what events had taken place in this area. As part of the project, we also prepared a series of programmes dedicated to Azerbaijani cinema. Thus, I was able to partially realize my dream - to make a TV show about our cinema. In March, we told viewers about the legendary film "26 Baku commissars". By the way, this is the only motion picture, which tells about the events of March 1918, when Turkish troops entered the capital and liberated Baku from Armenian nationalists and Bolsheviks.

In each programme, we learn something new along with the audience. For example, earlier I did not know that in Mastaga there is another ovdan where the water is amazingly clean and clear. When you go down into the ovdan, you have to be careful because the water is so clear that you may not notice it and may get your feet wet. I did not know that the minaret in Taza Pir could have been much higher if the architect Zivarbay Ahmadbayov had not been banned from raising it to a certain height. It turns out that the highest point in Baku at the time was to be the dome of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It was forbidden to build higher. After a while, in Amirjan, when Murtuza Muxtarov ordered Ahmadbayov a mosque, the architect realized his dream and raised the minaret to 60 metres. So this became the tallest minaret in the capital. By the way, recently our programme crossed the border of Azerbaijan, devoting several reports to historical monuments of Antalya. In the near future, we plan to travel in Azerbaijan. We want to show the history and beauty of our country to make people aware of it.

- I wonder what TV shows you like? What do you watch in your spare time?

- The thing is that I spend very little time in front of the TV screen. Basically I watch Russian television. I like educational, news, history and sports programmes. I love high-quality cinema and the Discovery Channel. Azerbaijani TV channels mainly do not suit me. I am not interested in the show business at all. I watch only local news.

- How did you end up being a journalist?

- I decided to become a journalist when I was a student of the Institute of Oil and Chemistry. I was attracted by the image of a person who acquires information with a tape recorder at the ready. At that time, the first film about journalists "The Main Interview" was released. It was filmed by Eldar Quliyev, and I fell in love with this role even more. At school and at the institute, I ran disco shows, and in 1983, I met Cingiz Mustafayev and worked with him. In 1994, when ANS opened, I gave up my successful career. By the way, at that time, I worked as deputy chief in two departments - "commissioning" and "lift assembly" departments. But until now, I have never regretted the "retraining". After all, radio is a real life for me! I sit down at the console, open the "slider" and "pour" my feelings on the air - it is a real pleasure! In the first six months of my career, I went on the air twice a week and got a symbolic fee for that. From January 1995, I got totally "addicted" to radio. Perhaps no one in the Caucasus and Central Asia can boast that they have been working for over 18 years continuously.

- How did you come to jazz? Why did you decide to dedicate a radio programme to this music?

- I did not come to jazz overnight. First there was rock music, then light disco music. For over 5 years, I ran a radio programme called "Retro". At that time, I came across a work by Rafiq Babayev called "Nostalgia". I listened to the synthesis of jazz and mugam and literally fell in love with this music. I came to jazz through this synthesis. I think one comes to jazz and mugam with age. In short, I realized that I wanted to do just jazz. So I became a "jazzaholic". For me, this is the work I enjoy. I believe that you need to talk about good and quality music a lot and often. After all, chosen, cultured and educated people listen to this music.

- Which of the modern Azerbaijani jazz musicians do you listen to with great pleasure?

- There are plenty of such musicians in Baku. This is my close friend Emil Afrasiyab and Isfar Sarabski, Salman Qambarov, Camil Amirov, Rahin Sultanov, Etibar Asadli, Elbay Mammadzada. It is encouraging that there is also a whole generation of talented musicians who play non-traditional musical instruments. One of these is Ali Vazirov who performs jazz on the vibraphone.

- As a citizen and press secretary for Icari Sahar, you cannot remain indifferent to changes in the appearance of our city. How do you feel about these changes?

- There is no doubt that Baku is becoming more and more beautiful every year. At the beginning of the 20th century, during the oil boom, the city also actively changed its appearance, and sometimes not everyone liked this process. Those who were used to seeing one-storey houses were outraged by the appearance of five-storey "skyscrapers". The same thing is happening now. Today, our capital looks European and modern. But I cannot accept and understand when a ridiculous skyscraper suddenly "grows" between two architectural houses of past centuries. This definitely spoils the city's appearance and does not match the overall ensemble. I'm hurt and offended by people's attitude to the city and history. We have to respect what our ancestors have left us.

- What music is associated with Baku for you?

- When I asked Akif Islamzada what the Maiden's Tower meant for him, he said it is the music of Vaqif Mustafazada. For me, Baku is also associated with the music of Vaqif and Rafiq Babayev. Their melodies touch the soul and remain in memory forever...

- Akif İslamzadədən Qız qalasının onun üçün nə məna kəsb etdiyini soruşanda, o, cavab verib - bu, Vaqif Mustafazadənin musiqisidir. Mənim üçün də Bakı Vaqifin və Rafiq Babayevin musiqisi ilə assosiasiya olunur. Onların melodiyaları insanın ruhunu riqqətə gətirir və əbədi olaraq yaddaşda qalır...