Palavras de Aziza

(…)I was born into the world of jazz, and more specifically into the world of "mugam," a form of traditional, improvisational music in Azerbaijan. It seems quite natural that I became a jazz performer with such a background. My father, Vagif Mustafa Zadeh, was legendary for his jazz improvisation. He became known as the founder of the Azerbaijani Mugam Jazz Movement that evolved in the late 60s and 70s.

(…)In 1978, my dad represented the Soviet Union at the World Jazz Festival in Monaco and took first prize. Dizzy Gillespie used to say, "Vagif's music is from another planet! It's the music of the future!" And my mother, (Eliza Khanom), is incredibly talented in music, too. She was one of the first to sing in the new mugam jazz style. How fortunate to have been born into such a family.

First Musical Awareness

My mother is fond of telling the story of how she discovered my sensitivity to music. I was eight-months-old at the time, just a baby really. Once, my father was improvising at the piano playing in the mugam mode known as "Shur," which creates a mood that evokes very deep, sad emotions. As my father was playing, I started to cry. Everyone wondered what was happening to me. Why was I crying? And then mother realized the correlation between my feelings and the music.

"Vagif, please," she told my father, "change the scale. Go to 'Rast'. Play 'Rast'." And he did. Now 'Rast' is characterized by its joyfulness and optimism. And sure enough, with tears still running down my cheeks, I started to make dance-like movements. And Mom pointed out, "Look, look what she's doing! Change back to 'Shur!'" And when he did, I started crying again louder than before. At least, that's what they tell me. Back to "Rast," and I began dancing again.