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November 11, 2014

Discovery between the East and West - Elchin Shirinov in Dusseldorf

Is it the folk music of the mugham tradition, which makes almost every man in Azerbaijan from childhood with improvised melodies familiar? Or simply an attitude of openness and tolerance, to which the people in the Caucasus country are so proud of? It may be no coincidence that the jazz scene of Baku is counted among the world's most vibrant. 

 

Now it was time to experience with pianist Elchin Shirinov and his Azerbaijani-British band as particularly brilliant ambassador this cosmopolitan musicality. And: This 32 years young pianist exception is probably at the moment the discovery par excellence!

 

The occasion for the concert in Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus was prominent through and through. Invited to this great cultural evening had the Azerbaijani Embassy in cooperation with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The foundation was called by the First Lady of Azerbaijan to life, to reflect the diverse cultural and especially musical wealth of this country into the world. Accordingly, quite different guest performances by musicians and ensembles by Azerbaijani musicians are taking place in Germany at the moment. This intention reiterated also the present Azerbaijani ambassador Parviz Shabahzov.

 

Well over 700 guests from around Dusseldorf attended the event with exhibitions and the concert with a cocktail reception upfront. The ambassador personally took full pride to honor the musical cultural export. And this includes so much more than that Baku haveing been in the spotlight of the entertainment industry in 2012 with the "Euro Vision Song Contest“ as a major event. Exhibitions in the foyer of the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus presented in addition to the concert the long history of German-Azerbaijani relations. Large, historic B & W photographies showed German settlers who moved by the end of the 18th century into the country in the Caucasus - and operated there among other proessionals also vineyards. Azerbaijani contemporary painters have also expressed their subjective "Germany-images" of modern presence in contemporary forms of expression.

 

But then there was the stage ready for Elchin Shirinov and his fabulous supporters: What a refined piano culture conjures up this exceptional talent from Baku with his piano keys! He is pressing down the keys in a highly effortless way. In quiet passages, this appears  extremely sensitive, almost humble. But even when he unleashed shortly afterwards virtuoso temperament storms, the most imaginative way across the black and white keys remained clearly understandable. Such a customized business card he instantly delivered at the beginning with his band in a tender, soaked from worn-in feel cool jazz ballad. It is a tribute to one of the great Azerbaijani jazz idols, the famous Vagil Mustafazadeh who has influenced the jazz life of Azerbaijan since its inception. The next number is from this artist - and there the band broke out a storm with unbridled force, dizzy-making odd meters and blazing melodies!

 

Out of this this performance emerges, swings, grooves a passionate, touching musical world language. Here, the Occident and the Orient must never make compromises to each other, but touching themselves quite naturally. Elchin Shirinovs rapid, lightweight and often even ecstatic rearing keys art has influences of New York's jazz musicians like Bill Evans or Jason Moran deeply internalized. At the same time constantly flashing on these subtle oriental colors, Shirinov drwas his ideas from those latent melancholy tone scales of Mugham music.

 

Bassist Sam Lasserson blackens the background colors for brilliant sound paintings, but also runs his drive like crisp funky forward - and the spontaneous wealth of ideas and improvsiation is immense here! Drummer Dave Hamblett is a phenomenon in itself. Especially on the snare drum he lets it boil over tense, on the bowl he lays finest dizzy fog in intensely swinging waves from totally irregular time signatures. Often note against note he intervened directly in the rapid piano improvisations of Elichin Shirinov. But the latter is only too happy to brachial triumphant percussionists, if both play around on the piano in desert duels any hypnotic rhythmic melodies.

 

The symbolic power of each other's influencing muscial cultures continues thoughout this evening. Again and again, compatriot fellows of Shirinov come into play, improvise in the eastern stylistics of their homeland - and can thereby drive and fuel in a powerful way this exception of a Jazz Band!

 

Shirzad Fataliyev lets his air currents on the Balaban tremble in melismatic lament - and much cutting is his sound, which he later on a kind Ghaita plays a shawm-like instrument with a oboe mouthpiece. And again it is an astonishing feeling to listen to those sounds in a world class jazz concert this evening in our home country. This is particularly true also for the second Azerbaijani musician, an oud player. Shirazad Fataliyev and Mirjavad Gafarov can rock it literally. It is rarely heard her, but these oriental stringed instruments are highly expressive and powerful. So the powerful string sounds form again very compact units with the bass playing of the British - and up, it goes to rapturous flights of competing with Shirinovs never ending, eloquent and passionate flow of ideas on the keys.

 

Cleverly dose the musicians a dramaturgy that mediates between lyrical rather worn, then frenetically going forward pieces. The melodic ideas and wide-ranging improvisations even take over Azerbaijani folk song melodies, then back to compositions from the classical context in the musical culture of this country - like the Waltz from the ballet "Yeddu Gözal" (= Seven Beauties) by the composer Gara Garayev.

 

So free, so easy, so spontaneously, this game flow increased more and more during the concert. So they made it easy for a very mixed crowd - where jazz uninformed were include in this evening - to entertain and finally deliver standing ovations. Several minutes of standing applause crowned this cultural contempt unifying cultural commitments from these gifted musicians. As an add on for the finale Shirinov played with the oud player a touching and tender duet. Where again very poetic music languages combined, as it seems to work exemplary in Azerbaijan for centuries …


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