Wonderful jazz music has immersed Heydar Aliyev Center in a
truly warm atmosphere.
A trio of Ruslan Agababayev, who is a renowned pianist and
composer and laureate of international competitions, Ruslan
Huseynov (bass guitarist) and Elvin Bashirov (drummer) thrilled the
audience with their magnificent performance,
Azernews reports.
The concert was organized to celebrate International Jazz
Day.
Declared in 2011 by UNESCO, Jazz Day brings together
communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz
enthusiasts all over the world to celebrate and learn about jazz
and its roots, future and impact; raise awareness of the need for
intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding; and reinforce
international cooperation and communication.
At the opening ceremony, jazz expert, radio and TV presenter,
Honored Cultural Worker Rahib Azeri spoke about the musician’s
creative path, which started in his native Baku.
Ruslan Agababayev grew up in a musical family. All relatives on
the maternal side are musicians who instilled in him a love of
musical art. His first teacher was his uncle Robson Efraimov.
After graduating from the Baku Music Academy’s Piano Department,
he continued his studies at the Department of Classical Composition
of New York New School University.
Over the past years, Ruslan Agababayev have successfully
performed concerts all over the world. He collaborated with famous
jazz and ethno-musical artists.
The pianist has won many prizes at international festivals and
has been accepted into American Society of Composers, Authors,
Publishers (ASCAP). He often comes from New York to Baku to visit
relatives and perform concerts.
“I adore Azerbaijan a lot and always feel special happiness when
performing in my homeland. Since early childhood, music has become
a part of my life. By the age of six, I started to play the piano
and study music seriously. After a couple of years, I began to
improvise, so this world became a part of my life. We have
performed the most diverse music at home from classical, folk music
to mugham, songs by Rashid Beybutov, Muslim Magomayev and jazz. My
idols were Vagif Mustafazade, Bill Evans, Chick Corea and others,”
Agababayev said.
Agababayev constantly gets acquainted with new authors, but at
the same time never forgets about classical music.
“I listen to a lot of different genres. I am inspired by music,
especially ethnic music. In my creative work I always try to find
new talented musicians, who create unknown compositions, and such
music becomes one of the sources of my inspiration. Improvisational
music is something incredible, especially when you’re on stage with
wonderful musicians. Real works appear only when the music comes
from the soul,” he added.
A concert program consisting of ethnic, jazz and classical music
left no one indifferent.
Anvar Sadigov (accordion), Tunzala Agayeva (vocals), Honored
Artists Jeyla Seidova (violin), Sevda Alakbarzade (vocals), Elnur
Mikayilov (kamancha), Cuban musician Yanssel Castellon and many
others also delighted jazz lovers with compositions.
The musicians were accompanied by the Ruslan Agababayev
Trio.
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