Once upon a time, I had a decent working knowledge (at least for an American expat) of Soviet Jazz. It keeps popping back into my life, and I still find it a joy to listen to even 30 years down the road. Thanks to Shasha Svistunov for compiling some real Continue Reading
Azerbaijan
Various Artists – Azerbaijani Love Songs
Music from Azerbaijan comes in many forms, but one of the genres not well-covered on disc outside of the country is its rich tradition of love songs. Caucaso Records, a Baku-based record label, has begun the process to fix this issue.
Akshin Alizadeh – Reasons
We have here a slab of R&B and modern soul courtesy of Akshin Alizadeh, the wunderkind originally from Azerbaijan who records for Cold Busted Records out of Oregon. It’s strangely radio-friendly, but the funk is pleasant on this single
Nigar Marjanova (Ника Марджанова) – Summertime
Now and again I stumble onto something pleasant, even if there is no CD or download available (yet) of the artist’s music. Nigar Marjanova (see her Youtube channel here) is a jazz singer out of Baku, Azerbaijan, a country known for producing some rather fine musicians (think of Vagif Mustafazade Continue Reading
Rüstəm Quliyev – Azerbaijani Gitara
Rüstəm Quliyev’s story is one of tragedy. First, he was born in the Nagorno-Karabach area of Azerbaijan (contested by Armenia as recently as last year, where a small war was fought over the territory). The fighting was so bad in Quliyev’s youth that he had to flee. He would move Continue Reading