Rafiq Babayev

Rafiq Babayev

Rafiq Babajew , also Rafiq Farzi, English transcription Rafig Babayev, (born March 31, 1937 in Baku , † March 19, 1994 ibid) was an Azerbaijani pianist , arranger, band leader and composer of jazz .

Babayev grew up in poverty, raised by his mother after his father, Farzi Babayev, fell victim to Stalinist purges in 1937 (he was rehabilitated after Stalin's death in 1956). His mother, Shakhbegim khanum, provided musical training despite the poverty. He and three of his siblings (one brother, three sisters) became musicians, Babayev himself attended a special school for music and from 1950 to 1954 the Asaf Zeynally music school in Baku, where he studied piano with PS Levina. He played jazz on the side (and one of his pieces on the 1954 final exam was by Bill Evans) and graduated from the Baku State Conservatory in 1959. He toured with his jazz band in the Soviet Union and in 1966, at the invitation of the singer Rashid Behbudov, became musical director of a music theater founded by the latter in Baku. In 1966 and 1967 he took part in the Tallinn Jazz Festival , where he played his own compositions, was very popular with his mixture of Azerbaijani folk music ( mugham ) and jazz, and was awarded a prize in 1967. In 1984 he became artistic director and conductor of the Estrada Radio and TV Orchestra in Baku. In addition, he continued to lead jazz ensembles composed of musicians from his orchestra, organized competitions, concerts and festivals and was active in training young people. In 1991 he founded the folk jazz band Jangi and founded his own recording studio. With his band he performed in 1993 in the Los Angeles and San Francisco area . He worked a lot as a studio musician, including for numerous films in Azerbaijan.

In 1994 he was the victim of one of the Baku metro attacks attributed to Armenian extremists. A remote-controlled bomb under a metro seat caused an explosion that left 14 dead and 49 wounded, including Babayev, who was working nearby.

In 1978 he became an Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, and in 1993 he became a People's Artist of Azerbaijan.

Web links

• Jazz Dünyasi about Babayev

Individual evidence

1. ^ New York Times, March 20, 1994