Tumultous world of Azerbaijani jazzman

/AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Music enthusiasts of Baku will have a chance to enjoy the performance of world-renowned musicians and singers at the traditional Baku Jazz Festival 2014 this autumn.

Azerbaijani young and at the same time very talented jazzman Emil Afrasiab will thrill up the audience of the annual celebration of jazz music, to be held from October 19 to November 1.

Jazz emerging about a half century ago, among African-Americans, have long conquered the whole world. The truly universal Jazz knows no geographical, no age and no stylistic boundaries.

The best jazz tunes have been included in the treasury of world music along with works of the most serious academic genres. On the other hand, jazz is a living art-it is constantly evolving, absorbing more and more new destinations and regional flow.

Gifted jazzman, Emil Afrasiab, more confidently assert himself on the world stage, taking first place at various international competitions.

Meanwhile, Emil is a permanent participant of jazz festivals both in Baku and abroad. With great success, he has represented the Azerbaijani art of jazz in Germany, Hungary, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Cuba, Russia and many other countries.

Your heart shudders and skips a beat when you hear sounds of the piano from the depths of a scene through the play of Emil's runaway fingers.

He is one of the youngest piano players-always open to new ideas.

His talent has been unfolded since his childhood, when on one of the most beautiful days his mother saw how her 2 year old baby played the piano amazingly.

This fascination has completely overwhelmed him. Emil decided to become a professional musician. He feels happy playing jazz.

Now, Emil is continuing his musical education at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

Young, talented and astonishing Emil won the heart of teachers of Berklee College of Music with his skills. So, one of the best musical colleges of the U.S. included him to the list of the best students. He took this honorable title for the third time.

Emil said that he was filled with pride and joy when he had got the letter. What is interesting is the form of letter-"Baku resident earns place on dean's list at Berklee College of Music."

"It means that senior management of the college demonstrated their respect first of all to the Azerbaijani jazzman, showing that they know the capital of the country where he is from.

With his amazing talent, Emil excellently introduces Azerbaijan to the world.

Playing at many international concert halls, such as Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, Emil always underlines the one which left incredible memory in him.

The concert was held in Carnegie Hall in Greece. The hall was boiled with people which were admiringly looking at young Azerbaijani musician and this fact gave him more passion and energy to show his brilliant talent. About 2,500 jazz lovers came to the solo concert of spectacular Azerbaijani talent and more than 600 people applauded him standing as there were no further places for the audience.

Emil's spellbinding performance greatly impressed the audience, instigating them to know more about his country of origin.

"They insisted on asking me to come and tell more about the country where I came from," Emil said.

He leaves his own handwriting mixing modern jazz with Azerbaijani Mugam. His songs are always filled with the national colors and features of Azerbaijani culture.

For Emil Jazz is not just regular music, it's a way to perceive reality, it's the life, his inspiration. Jazz is the opportunity of self-expression, a manifestation of musician personality and creativity. Jazz is freedom...