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By Amina Nazarli

For more than a week, as part of the 13th Baku International Jazz Festival, the capital’s concert halls have been filled with incredible music performed by national and foreign musicians.

Supported by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Azerbaijan Culture Foundation, the festival came to an end on November 3 at the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic.

As in all concerts during the festival, the last one was also met with great interest.

Even many of the country’s officials, such as Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Baku Musical Academy rector Farhad Badalbeyli, Philharmonic director Murad Adigezalzade and Russian Ambassador to the country, Vladimir Dorokhin, were seen among the guests.

Many art figures, including local jazz musicians who earlier performed during the festival, also sat among the public as spectators.

Azerbaijani virtuoso Emil Afrasiab, who decided to remain in Baku to take part in the closing ceremony, praised the organizational level of the festival, thanks to which he met many foreign colleagues who performed for the first time in Baku.

The heroine of the closing concert was charming Rosie Ntjam from the Netherlands. Aside from singing, the impressive musician writes songs, plays guitar and works as a producer.

In the beginning of her career, right after graduation from school, Rosie attempted to study at the Codarts Music Conservatory and Dance Academy Rotterdam, but quickly became disillusioned with academics.

However, Rosie did not stop playing music and writing songs. On the contrary, she created a group, which first began performing at local clubs, and later at various jazz events.

So far, this young talent has released several singles, three studio albums and a CD/DVD with live recordings of her performance at the GROUNDS venue in Rotterdam.

Before the ceremony, the Dutch singer talked with journalists about her first impressions of Baku.

“It’s my first visit to Baku,” she said “but I heard a lot about the country. My colleagues have performed here during the previous festivals. I was very happy to be invited this year.”

“Unfortunately, I could not walk around the city, as I just arrived”, said Rosie. “I think everything will be at a high level. Myself, and my quintet, have performed in many countries around the world, and we are pleased that in Baku we have fans,” she noted.

First jazz connoisseur Rahib Azeri also commented, saying these eight days of the festival have flown by quickly.

“This festival will be remembered by all of us because of the brilliant performances by many world-renowned jazz musicians who, despite their busy schedules, found time to take part in the festival. Every year, the number of festival participants increases, and no one knows what will happen next year,” he said, then inviting a quartet of musicians, along with Rosie, onto the stage.

With their first song, the musicians were able to find a way into the hearts of the Baku audience. Rosie not only sang, but also danced, improvising on stage. She also sang the most famous songs from her new album.

The audience was thrilled and would not let the musicians go. Rosie said she was amazed by the reaction of the audience. After the concert, the singer admitted that she did not expect the Baku audience to be so warm and musical.

“My colleagues say that finding a way into the hearts of your audience is very difficult. I cannot express my feelings. Not me, but the audience charged us with their energy. I will be happy to come back to Baku again,” Rosie noted.

So, Bakunians once again said goodbye to the outstanding jazz concert until next year.

During this musical event of the year, five-time Grammy award winner, Canadian pianist and jazz singer Diana Krall, honored Azerbaijani artist, composer, pianist and jazz musician Salman Gambarov, also, Azerbaijani musician Jamil Amirov and his group, famous American jazz musician Charles Lloyd, and national virtuosos Emil Afrasiab and Isfar Sarabski thrilled the audience with their magnificent performances.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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