February 14th, 2007
Music from Azerbaijan
“Dance of Fire” by Aziza Mustafah Zadeh
When Indian popstar and actress Vasunthara Das mentioned Aziza’s name in an interview as her sole inspiration I was very curious because this was a name I had never heard before. Why didn’t Vasunthara name anyone in India or in the U.S or from Europe. My obvious next stop. The world wide web. After some deep search I located her information on Wikipedia. Wiki Link to Aziza. I then checked Amazon.com and luckily they were carrying some of her albums and obviously I was going to sample them. Her Web Site was even better with a detailed biography/interview and links to all her albums. As the web site mentions, Aziza hails from a musically inclined and talented family. Her late father was a well known Jazz pianist himselft and her mother an accomplished Jazz singer. So it was only natural that the daughter born to such a musically talented couple was going to be one such musician hersefl. Taught the piano Aziza is a professional Jazz pianist. Starting at the age of 3 when she gave vocal performances on stage she travels the world giving stellar performances. According to Aziza, she improvises heavily on stage and she’s been to so many cities across the world that she sometimes doesn’t recall the places she’s been to. Aziza claims to have mastered a local tradition called “Mugham”. Her piano of course has this Islamic touch to it. It is certainly beautiful.
While sampling some of her music it was this album, “Dance of Fire” that caught my eye. Why? Simply because the legends of jazz-rock fusion are playing on it. Guitar legend Al Di Meola, Bass legend Stanley Clarke, Drum legend Omar Hakim, Bill Evans on Soprano and Trenor Saxophone who played with Miles Davis and a second bassist Kai E. Karpeh De Camargo. I did not regret listening to this CD and so will you. The music compositions are very good, punctuated with mini solos from Al Di Meola, Omar Hakim, the bassists and Bill.
Here’s a description of the songs:
1. Boomerang - A soft but acoustically beautiful recording. The Jazz or Mugham on the Grand Piano is clearly evident as it so different from general piano repertoire. Let not the slow start fool you about what’s in the coming. Towards the end of the song the bass takes lead position over the piano for a while.
2. Dance of Fire - A memorable and a pleasant composition deserving of the title song. You could fool a south Indian it was an Illayaraja tune for a while. Both Al Di Meola and Aziza start together giving way to the guitar flashes from Al in between. Bass takes over for a while letting setting the stage for a lovely solo from Al on acoustic guitar and in conclusion joined by Aziza and the bassist for a finale playing the memorable opening tune again. Bassist doing some extended play towards the end too.
3.Sheherezade - A soft beautiful waltzy composition.
4. Aspiration - Peppy number, fiery solos by Al Di Meola.
5. Bana Bana Gel (Bad Girl) - The longest song on the album and also the most wonderful composition involving the best of the talent of all the musicians. You get to hear Aziza for the first time. Her voice is sensous and although it sounds like scat singing it also sounds like Azerbaijani language too (although I do not know Azerbaijani). “Bana Bana Gel” has to mean something afterall. For a first time listener the vocals will simply blow you away. The saxophone is also heard for the first time followed by a solo from Aziza. Some more singing this time with some more high frequency vocals and powerful singing and later the sax takes over and then after a mini solo on the bass the song is concluded by a lovely mini solo by Omar on the drums. Finally the rest of the crew to conclusion after one more vocal singing for the finale.
6. Shadow - A more pure-jazz oriented number with the saxophone taking center stage gracefully accompanied by Aziza’s soft piano gradually moving to a solo from her. Bass and drums provice the necessary accompanyment and concluded by a sax solo.
7. Carnival - A song befitting a carnival, reminiscent of Shakatak’s “Brazilian Dawn” filled in with Aziza’s scat singing once again. More saxophone work on the song too and solo from Aziza. A slightly long song but then what can we do if the musicians enjoy playing.
8. Passion - Like the title tune a nice tune, check out Al De Meola play the acoustic guitar. He burns the fretboard with fiery playing
9. Spanish Picture - More scat singing, solos from Al, long song and could make you weary at this time though the pure jazz elements and the nice bass solo (don’t know if it was Stanley or Kai E. Karpeh De Camargo) cannot be ignored, the singing almost reaches a wailing/screaming state not very enjoyable inspite of the difficulty in the performance.
10. To Be Continued - Nice, softie filler, nice flowing piano playing.
11. Father - A truly amazing song for conclusion. Don’t know if the song was dedicated to her father but if it is then it is a truly befitting one. Mysterious with a pain of longing and seperation clearly evident in the composition it is also haunting at times. The piano playing is fiery and brilliant. A befitting finale to a lovely album.
As of the last check on Amazon.com, they do not carry her album though they sell some of the others as Import CD’s. However you can buy them at her official website (it is bilingual, German and English. Look for the appropriate link to view her site in the language of you choice). Aziza Mustafah Zadeh - Official Website
You may want to check UnlimitedDownloadCenter.com for Aziza’s album where you can download for free.
