Press

Our cultural correspondent Natavan Husseynova relates the fascinating but hazardous history of Azeri jazz, and of the unsung musical heroes who fought against Stalin's persecution.Azeri jazz has a rich history reaching back to the beginning of the 20th century. When jazz came to Baku this unique American art fell on soil very similar to its motherland. The boisterous development of industries, the motley gathering of different nations of the city(there were more than a hundred nationalities in Baku at the turnof the century), the rapid growth of the entertainment business and, finally, the traditional Azeri songs and mugams - all this takentogether served the foundation for popularisation of jazz in Baku as well as for the emergence of its new branches. The brand new Azeri jazzmen were trying to synthesise the traditional music and jazz in the late 1930s. At first, it was an unpretentious arrangements of traditional songs in a jazz spirit, and were followed by the arrangem

ents of the compositions of such prominent composers of Uzeyir Hajibekov and Muslim Magomayev. In 1939, the Soviet government ordered to establish the state jazz bands in all the republics, and in Baku, too, the first big band started up under the wing of the republican philharonic society. It was called the State jazz orchestra of Azerbaijan and was placed in the hands of the young pianist and composer Tofig Kuliyev. In this band played the truly outstanding musicians, such as Parviz Rustambekov (sax), Ismail Kalantarov (trumpet), Tofig Kuliyev himself (piano), and many others. The supportive attitude of the authorities in the 30s and early 40s changed into opposition and ruthless persecution in mid 40s. After WW II. when the USA ceased to be allies to the USSR, the 'music of the fat cats', as jazz was then called, was regarded as a hostile form of art. The government issued the Decree on formalism in arts' in 1948 that was followed by total persecution of not only jazz musicians but also of those composers who dealt with modern trends in the classical music. Parviz Rustambekov, who knew English well and kept Western musical magazines and jazz LPs at home, was denounced, arrested by the KGB, and died in a Stalinist prison And yet, despite the repression, jazz and its performers remained. They listened to the New Delhi and Ceylon radio channels furtively at nights and even gathered at somebody's homes for jam sessions. The first be-bop bands emerged here in the early 50s. When Stalin died andKhruschev took over,jazz burst out of the underground and occupied the stages. However, fear of the very word 'jazz' was still so great to the authorities that the new big bands were concealed under the names of the State stage orchestras. The first jazz festival in Baku took place in 1969. Naturally, it was not called so. But this did not matter. What did matter was that those who had come a difficult and winding road to this moment, the Azeri jazzmen, came on stage with their new creation - jazz-mugam. The harmonical and entirely authentic synthesis of jazz and mugam was the gift that the great Vagif Mustafazade gave us. Thirty years have passed since, and the last decade was not all that fortunate. Nevertheless, jazz lives today as ever, and experiments are continued.There is one jazz saxophone player who is known to all who frequent the Caravan jazz-club in Baku. The man's name is Rain Sultanov, and he is the soloist of the Syndicate group Rain came the way typical of millions of Soviet musicians. While at school, he also went to a musical school, then graduated from a musical college (playing clarinet). He could be seen with a sax whilst at the Conservatoire, for he had started self-training to master this instrument. A difficult family situation prevented him from graduating from the Conservatoire: he had to start working. Rain's artistic upbringing started in the Ashugs ensemble the headed by the present Minister of Culture Polad Bul-Bul oglu. Later, Rain spent two years playing with the instrumental ensemble of the Theatre of Performing Art of Rashid Beybutov. After that, he went to the famous group Gaya. The 90s were marked by spells abroad. Rain worked in Moscow, Turkey and Germany as a soloist on sax, and
took part in several jazz festivals. Today, he is back in Baku as the leading jazz saxophonist of Azerbaijan. Baku has always been regarded as a jazz breeding ground. Do you the definition would be appropriate today? I do not think so. All that are left are flotsam and jetsam of the jazz crowd, just a few people, and these, too, want to leave and wait for an opportune moment. There is no help from the government or any sponsors. It is a hard life for jazz musicians in Baku. We had a great difficulty in recording and issuing our first LP. And that has been done thanks to BP and a Frenchman who is a fan of our band and our music. I am deeply grateful to them for their help. BP, perhaps, is the only com- pany that helps our musicians materially, as it were. It is not onlyjazzmen they help - the classical m sicians also feel the support. I know that the company had promoted the issue of several LPs recently.We had but a small circulat on in Baku, only 1,000 discs. However, we h ve been lucky in the sense that an American bought the right to re-issue the disc and distribute it in Europe and USA for one year and a half. So, our disc goes abroad. We develop individually, of course, at home we listen to the music, rehearse and perform in the jazz-club. This is the only place where we have the audience. Whilst working abroad, I was able to compete and attend jam sessions with excellent musicians. We went to the famous international jazz festival in Novosibirsk last year and the experts commended us. The organisational committee even sent a letter to our Ministry of Culture asking to issue our LP, but there was no response. We had to get together and issue the disc with the assistance of the sponsors and the fans. We now have a new project, and are looking for funds to issue the second LP. What was the result of your participation of the festival in Novosibirsk? The festival ran for four days in which we performed alone and played together in jam sessions with the best musicians in the worlds, all through the night.