Baku Summer Jazz Days start at Heydar Aliyev Center [VIDEO]

Baku Summer Jazz Days have solemnly opened at Heydar Aliyev Center.

Initiated by Premier LTD, the Jazz Days are taking place on July 3-7 with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Center, Azernews reports.

At the opening of the evening, jazz connoisseur, radio and TV presenter, Honored Cultural Worker Rahib Azeri noted that holding Baku Summer Jazz Days has become a good tradition.

It is the 5th time that the festival is organized outdoors as well as indoors. Baku, which is rightfully considered the city of jazz, is no exception in this sense.

Some of the concerts are organized in open squares and become accessible to a wide audience, which serves the main purpose of the event - to promote jazz music to a wider audience.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Rahib Azeri noted a new tendency to combine classical music and jazz.

"Most jazz musicians are people who have received a classical musical education. They all emphasize that in order to understand, love and to promote jazz - you need to start with the classics. Taking this into account, we are pleased to present an extremely interesting concert program," said Rahib Azeri.

Next, the Turkish musicians, including guitarist Onder Focan, the jazz singer Meltem Ege, as well as Shenov Ulker (trumpet, flugelhorn), Bulut Gulen (trombone), Ozan Musluoglu (double bass) and Serkan Alagek (drums) were invited to the stage. Turkish musicians performed accompanied by the Baku Chamber Orchestra.

The joint performance of Turkish jazz musicians and Baku Chamber Orchestra delighted the audience from the first chords.

The audience listened to Turkish jazz with great interest. The musicians warmly communicated with the guests of the concert, before performing musical compositions, the singer Meltem Ege told the story of the creation of the works, shared her memories. Most of Onder Fojan`s compositions have their own very special and personal history.

The music performed by Turkish musicians is very beautiful. The audience expressed their delight with thunderous applause. And the orchestra, which performed in a different genre, demonstrated that classical and jazz are compatible with each other.

After the performance, the singer Meltem Ege admitted to the media that being in Baku and performing at the Heydar Aliyev Center is a special pleasure.

"Being a part of the Baku Summer Jazz Days is a great honor. We are happy that we had the opportunity to perform in the capital of Azerbaijan. Our concert was wonderful, it was very pleasant to perform accompanied by the Baku Chamber Orchestra, we enjoyed it a lot," she said.

Guitarist Onder Fojan added that this is his third concert in Baku.

"It is gratifying to be back here. Azerbaijan is a country where music is loved, listened to... It is exciting to perform in front of a sophisticated audience, I hope the Baku listener liked our music. I express my deep gratitude to all the organizers of the Baku Summer Jazz Days for hosting this event," he said.

In the second part of the program, the famous pianist, laureate of international competitions, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Elchin Shirinov performed with Israeli musicians0Amir Bresler (drums), Oren Hardy (double bass) and Gilad Hekselman (guitar).

Together with Avishai Cohen Trio, Elchin Shirinov, has toured many countries with concerts.

The performance of the musicians did not leave anyone indifferent. The listeners enjoyed the amazing music and the virtuoso skill of the musicians.

The audience enjoyed not only listening to the musicians, but also watching their play, facial expressions and movements. The musicians led by Elchin Shirinov gave the guests of the concert a great mood, vivid emotions and great jazz music.

Elchin Shirinov shared his impressions from Baku Summer Jazz Days.

"This is the fifth Baku Summer Jazz Days, and, of course, I am happy to take part in them. Holding this event contributes to the development of young musicians. In the program, we performed Azerbaijani compositions, my author's compositions. I hope the audience liked everything. The opening concert program is a great start, and in the following days the event will delight jazz fans with interesting, vibrant performances by musicians," the pianist said.

The star of the festival and a real gift for jazz lovers will be the arrival of famous jazz pianist Alfredo Rodríguez from Quincy Jones, who will give a concert at the Heydar Aliyev Center on July 4.

Georgia will be represented by Giorgi Mikadze, pianist, arranger, professor of Berklee College of Music.

On July 5, he will perform jazz improvisations of famous Georgian composers together with French musicians Francois Moutin and Raphael Pannier in the Heydar Aliyev Center park.

The final chord of the jazz festival will be played by the Oleg Lundstrem Jazz Orchestra on July 7.

The collective, which came to Baku for the first time in 2019, has since won the sympathy of our audience and will delight its listeners with its creativity this time as well.

The concert will take place in the park of the Heydar Aliyev Center. Entrance to concerts in the park is free.

Tickets for concerts in the Auditorium Hall can be purchased at the city's ticket offices and on the iTicket.az.