Vaqif Mustafazadə

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Vaqif Mustafazadə (alternative Azerbaijani spelling Vaqif Mustafazadä ; Vagif is an Arabic word meaning "especially wise", in Azerbaijani Vaqif ; * March 16, 1940 in Baku , Azerbaijani SSR ; † December 16, 1979 in Tashkent , Uzbek SSR ) was a Azerbaijani composer and pianist .

The musical style developed by Mustafazadə is a mixture of jazz , elements of classical piano music and traditional Azerbaijani improvisation music Mugam , a musical modal system that determines the intervals, melody and rhythm.

Life

As a child, Vaqif Mustafazadə lived in Baku with his mother, the piano teacher Ziver Khanum ; in the period between the end of World War II (1945) and the death of Josef Stalin (1953), jazz was banned in Azerbaijan; even playing the saxophone was not allowed; The boy came into contact with jazz music through the BBC radio station and later through some feature films , he memorized the melodies and played them back. In addition, he received a classical pianist training. In 1957 he was supposed to give a concert at the music school, which also contained some short jazz compositions; the concert was banned despite the gradual opening to the West after Stalin's death.

Vaqif Mustafazadə still played jazz in clubs and at home; the influences are fed by “classical” music (“neither Bach nor jazz”), classical jazz, blues , bebop and dance music; he also processes Foxtrot , Charleston and the One-Step in his own pieces; however, he was particularly influenced by improvisation music .

From around the 1950s a new jazz movement developed in Azerbaijan, which became known under the names Jazz Mugam or Mugam Jazz ; Vaqif Mustafazadə became one of the leading musicians of this movement. This Mugam Jazz is based on the modal scales of traditional Mugam music, but did not follow a metric rhythm. Both the rhythms and the scales are open to improvisation.

In 1964 his friends Rafig Guliyev and Zohrab Adigozalzade managed to get him a permanent job; he left Azerbaijan and taught musicians like Tomaz Kurashvili in Georgia and organized the Orera group . In Georgia he also met his future wife Elsa (born Eliza Khanom on December 17th); a little later their daughter Əzizə was born.

In the 1960s, Mustafazadə also gained international recognition; in 1966 he played in various European countries and at the jazz festival in Tallinn, Estonia . BB King is said to have said to him after a performance:

“Mr. Mustafazade, they call me the 'King of the Blues,' but I sure wish I could play the blues as well as you do. "

"Mustafazadə, I am called 'King of the Blues', but I would love to be able to play the blues as well as you."

Dizzy Gillespie is said to have said about him:

“Vagif's music is from another planet! It's the music of the future! "

"He was a genius, but I think he was born before his time."

In 1978 Mustafazadə won first place at the 8th International Jazz Festival in Monaco for the song "Waiting for Aziza" .

Vaqif Mustafazadə died suddenly of a heart attack on December 16, 1979 at the age of 39 during a stage performance in Tashkent ( Uzbekistan ) , shortly before his daughter's tenth birthday.

Eight years after his death, on March 1, 1988, the Vagif Mustafazade Home Museum opened. It's in the apartment where he spent his youth.

His daughter, Əzizə Mustafazadə, has followed in her father's footsteps; she is a famous jazz singer and pianist under the name Aziza Mustafa Zadeh .

Discography

(Excerpt, music by Vaqif Mustafazadə is hardly available):

  • Aspiration (LP, East Wind Records 1978)
  • Statement (LP, Melodiya 1980)
  • Jazz Compositions (LP, Melodiya + CD, Mel 2010)
  • Variety Music (LP, Melodiya)
  • One day in Kiev. October 7, 1978 (Taras Bulba 2003)
  • Caz nağili - Jazz Tales (CD, Baki-Raks, Azarbaycan)
  • Dushunce

Music samples

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A phenomenon of music: The Azerbaijani jazz legend Vaqif Mustafazadä. In: Alumniportal Azerbaijan. September 19, 2019, accessed October 20, 2019 (de-de-lite).
personal data
SURNAME Mustafazadə, Vaqif
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mustafazada, vagif
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Azerbaijani composer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Baku , Azerbaijani SSR
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1979
Place of death Tashkent , Uzbek SSR