Beautiful rhythms sound in Mugham Center

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Last night, the International Mugham Center in Baku witnessed the greatness of the national rhythms with the Natig Rhythm Group.

The Natig Rhythm Group excited the Baku audience with its lively and fast-paced combination of drums and traditional stringed instruments.

The marvelous concert featured an amazing display of Azerbaijan's rich musical heritage, past and present. The largest naghara in the Caucasus with a diameter of 1 meter also was showcased on the stage.

The gala concert was held under the motto "There is a Rhythm, there is a Life", while Natig Shirinov, the head of the Group, explained the meaning of this phrase during the concert.

Shirinov`s brilliant performance was followed by storm of applause and shouts of "bravo".

"This is my 14th concert in Azerbaijan. I admit that it's very difficult to organize a concert of naghara (percussion) performance. You hold the leather-wrapped wood in your hands and you need to keep the attention of the audience with rhythms at least half an hour," he said while talking to Day.Az.

Natig Shirinov is a world-famous Azerbaijani percussionist and leader of the Natig Rhythm Group. He is frequently recognized as the greatest nagara player to emerge from the Caucasus.

He has revolutionized nagara percussion technique by experimenting with measures and hand drumming styles. He is also notorious for being Azerbaijan's first rhythm composer. Natig Shirinov is recognized by many people as one of the greatest nagara players of our times. His numerous contributions to the Azerbaijanii music scene have gained him a place among a very selective group of artists known to have set new musical trends for the 21st century. 

The Natig Rhythm Group members are Umid Shirinov, Hikmet Makhmudov, Elbey Iskanderov, Timur Dzhabrailov, Farid Vazirov as well as Maksad Azizov, Namig Shirinov, Bayram Uzeyirov, Anar Abbasov  and Samir Aliyev.