Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Nizami Cinema Center will screen a documentary dedicated to the memory of Vagif Mustafazade, one of Azerbaijan's greatest jazz masters and founder of new genre of music - jazz-mugham.

The presentenation is scheduled for October 25 at 7 pm.

The film “Vagif as I knew him" features memories of jazz masters from Russia, Georgia, Estonia, Poland and the United States.

Some episodes of the musician’s life were mentioned in the film and thoughts of other famous musicians about the legendary jazz singer recorded.

Founder of Azerbaijani jazz, Vagif Mustafazadeh managed to establish Azerbaijani jazz. He created in Jazz something native and something close to Azerbaijani soul.

Mustafazadeh established a new sound - his own kind of jazz, a fusion of jazz with a form of indigenous Azerbaijani music, Mugham.

Throughout years, he wrote numerous jazz compositions, including fugues, preludes, ballads and scherzos, many of them written in the 1970s. He released a total of eight albums, all with different line-ups, mood and style.

By the beginning of 1960s, Vagif was gaining recognition outside of Azerbaijan.

Winner of numerous jazz festivals such as "Tallinn-66", "Tallinn-67", Baku festival "Jazz 69", Donetsk 1977 festival, and "Tbilisi-78", Vagif Mustafazadeh always fascinated listeners with his originality and virtuosity.

Musician's death was a shock to many people. He was only 39 years old when he died on stage while performing in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in 1979.

Jazz schools around the world have recognized Vagif Mustafazadeh as a phenomenal musician. His works represent a unique combination of eastern and western schools, of tradition and innovation.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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