Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Famous Afgan Rasul Trio band has given a spectacular concert as part of Baku Jazz Festival 2019.

The music band includes Afgan Rasul (piano), Ruslan Huseynov (double bass, bass), Elvin Bashirov (drums), as well as pianist Elbe Mammadzadeh.

"Azerbaijani jazz is progressing day by day. The holding of jazz festivals in Baku contributes to this to a large extent, when our musicians get the opportunity to show themselves. Our musicians are successful in the international arena," Afgan Rasul told Trend Life.

After the concert, the trio shared the same stage with Russian jazz saxophonist Andrei Konstantinov who is among the winners of "I am Jazzman" contest.

Speaking about the festival, famous jazz singer Tarana Makhmudova noted that such events bring people and countries together.

"The great American composer and musician Duke Ellington once called jazz - an unlimited expression of complete freedom. And jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong said:" If you ask what jazz is, you will never understand that." I consider both statements to be correct. Moreover, jazz is not only freedom of expression, but also brings people closer to different cultures and traditions," she added.

Baku Jazz Festival 2019 will last until October 27. The festival brings together musicians from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, etc.

The festival offers a wide range of music styles and trends: avant-garde, traditional classics, ethno-programs, and symphonic jazz.

Baku Jazz Festival operates in several venues: Landmark Business Center, International Mugham Center, Musical Comedy Theater, Chamber and Organ Music Hall (Kirche).

The highlight of jazz festival is the midnight jam session. Baku Jazz Festival also supports these world festival traditions, rooted in the jazz composition "Round Midnight", must-know for jazz lovers.

Baku Jazz Festival has been held since 2005 and has proven itself as one of the biggest cultural events in Baku for more than a decade.

Baku Jazz Festival and related advertisement are broadcasted in Euronews TV channel. In 2006, it was included in the list of the top biggest jazz festivals worldwide.

Since 2017, the festival joins the Europe Jazz Network. Baku Jazz Festival is also a member of UNESCO International Jazz Day Celebration.

Media partners of Baku Jazz Festival 2019 are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz