Wonderful journey to world of mugham

By Laman Ismayilova

With centuries-old history, the Azerbaijani mugham is considered a treasury of the world music.

Mugham evening has been solemnly held at the Ashig Rza Gobustanli Culture House as part of the “Journey to the World of Mugham” project.

Young mugham singers Elgiz Aliyev, Nisbat Sadrayeva and Almakhanum Akhmadli, accompanied by Zafar Mammadli (tar), Mushfig Latifov (kamancha), Vusal Aliyev (naghara) presented an unforgettable concert to the public, which featured folk songs and mughams, Trend Life reported.

At the evening it was noted that the state provides great attention and care to the development and promotion of Azerbaijani culture. Azerbaijan is known throughout the world for its rich culture, and the country successfully promotes its cultural values.

There are numerous projects in the country aimed at the development of culture, the protection of national and spiritual values.

The event was organized at the initiative of the International Mugham Center and with the support of the Baku City Main Cultural Department.

The concert programs launched in July as part of the “Journey to the World of Mugham” project will continue until the end of this year. At concerts performed by famous mugham singers, wonderful folk music, mughams and tesnifs are performed.

The next concerts will take place in the Binagadi Central House of Culture on August 9 and the Mardakan Palace of Culture on August 27.

Azerbaijani mugham, one of the most valuable monuments of the material and spiritual culture of the nation contains seven main modes - Rast, Shur, Segah (especially common), Shushtar, Bayaty-Shiraz, Chahargah, Humayun and three collateral kinds - shahnaz, sarendj, chargah in some other form.

Vagif Mustafazade is the founder of Azerbaijani jazz-mugham movement that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Baku, as a result of the mixture of these two styles.

Jazz schools around the world have recognized Vagif Mustafazadeh as a phenomenal musician. His works represent a unique combination of eastern and western schools, of tradition and innovation.

Throughout years, he wrote numerous jazz compositions, including fugues, preludes, ballads and scherzos, many of them written in the 1970s. He released a total of eight albums, all with different line-ups, mood and style.