Tag: Azerbaijan

Categories
Music Youtube

Rare Soviet Oriental Jazz & Groove Mix Compiled and Mixed by Sasha Svistunov

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 treasures here, including quite a few whose names are new to me!

Brief run-down in English Tracklist:

1. Oleg Kutsenko Leningrad Instrumental Ensemble – Oriental Suite (Oleg Kutsenko, 1975)

2. Kavkaz Jazz Trio – Borjomi Park (Vagif Mustafa Zadeh, 1966)

3. Vadim Ludvikovski Ensemble – Rhythm Dance (Arno Babadjanian, 1961)

4. Emin Khachaturian Film Studio Orchestra – Hiking (Alexander Zatsepin, 1964)

5. Emin Khachaturian Film Studio Orchestra – A Wordless Song (Alexander Zatsepin, 1963)

6. Murad Kazhlaev Instrumental Ensemble – Play All Day (Murad Kazhlaev, 1975)

7. Armenian Radio Instrumental Ensemble dir. Martin Vartazarian – A Stroll (Martin Vartazarian, 1973)

8. ‘Rero’ Georgian State Orchestra – When The Saints Go Marching In (trad., 1966)

9. Elvira Trafova – Caravan (Juan Tizol/Duke Ellington, 1978)

10. Keith Beckingham – Caravan (Juan Tizol/Duke Ellington, 1967)

11. Rafiq Babayev Jazz Quartet – Mugham Improvisation (Rafiq Babayev, 1968)

12. All-Union Radio Variety Orchestra dir. Yuri Silantiev – Oriental Ballad (Murad Kazhlaev, 1962)

Categories
Music

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.

Categories
Music

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

Categories
Music Youtube

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 and his daughter, Aziza).  I like that her voice is incredibly relaxing, a pleasure to hear.  If she has the opportunity to produce a proper album in the future, we’ll be happy to share it.

Categories
Music

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 to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where his music blossomed into a mix of local Azeri music, psych, progressive rock, and whatever else his rapacious appetite for music all over the world could be fit into each composition.  His releases could be bought as far afield as Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Turkey.

Sadly, he died in 2005 after a short bout with cancer, but his work lives on in the scores of cassettes he sold throughout the Caspian Region, and this wonderful CD lovingly curated by Les Disques Bongo Joe out of Switzerland.