Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Isfar Sarabski, a masterful jazz pianist continues to astonish audiences worldwide.

A world-famous pianist could establish himself as one of the foremost jazz musicians and ink his name in the golden book of talented Azerbaijani youth.

A rich blend of music in his performance thrills up the souls of many music lovers. With an extraordinary sense of musical talent, Isfar Sarabski introduces Azerbaijan's rich musical heritage on different stages. For many times, his performances were accompanied by national folk instruments.

"We have a rich and unusual folklore, which seems incredible for public abroad. The audience enthusiastically applauded us. We have long past the days when nobody knew about Azerbaijan. Today our musicians share great scene with concerts in different countries, thus demonstrating our culture," said Sarabski.

"Many projects, including the synthesis of folk music with European have carried out by my colleagues. No doubt, it draws attention. We, as being art figures, are grateful to the Azerbaijani first lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva for providing of such opportunities," he added.

The City of Winds has always been devoted to jazz, even in the most difficult times of political and economic change. The East and the West musical traditions jointly sounds over decades. The most known type of Azerbaijani jazz is Jazz mugham, which includes a unique combination of Mugham and traditional American jazz.

Azerbaijani jazz has a very rich history, thanks to talented musicians and composers such as Rain Sultanov, Jamil Amirov, Salman Gambarov, as well as young genius such as Isfar Sarabski, Nurlan Novrasli, Emil Afrasiab, Elchin Shirinov and many more. A great deal of national performers are etched in the history of jazz music.

In his interview with Day.Az Sarabski stressed the development of Azerbaijani jazz over the past period..

"Azerbaijani jazz is developing year by year. It could be well seen from the international competitions, festivals, concerts of world famous jazz performers taking place in our country. Jazz has always taken a special place in our culture. Azerbaijan was announced a capital of this music genre once," said the musician.

Isfar Sarabski stressed the talent and outstanding skills of Azerbaijani people. This is not surprising. Ancient culture, gentle sun, charm of the East influenced a whole generation. An emerging of unique talents enrich the country's cultural life.

"We have extremely talented performers. A proof is the competition "I am a jazzman!", held in the framework of the Baku International Jazz festival. A while ago I also participated in this project, and now I'm a member of jury. The contestants are very young, so it's hard for me to judge who is the best. Any word can kill talent or give hope for the future. This is a very difficult job for me," said Sarabski.

The world-famous Azerbaijani pianist also spoke about his future plans. Indeed, his intelligence and hard work should be a huge inspiration for all musicians.

"Now I'm working on the album that I'm going to release this year. In addition, I have been invited to perform at concerts abroad," said the pianist.

"I spend all days long working in the studio. I usually play in different genres, trying to find something new. If you have a talent, you have to work hard to improve your skills and to become the best. I believe that people, even without much talent, but with great desire, could achieve tremendous results than those who rely only on their natural talent and does nothing for self-development," he added.

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

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