azerbaijan

Music from Azerbaijan
$15.98
This beautifully arranged album gives a various selection of traditional Azerbaijani music including very popular pieces as for example the songs Sari Gelin and Heydarbaba. So, it is very suitable for beginners to get a first impression of the great art of mugham music as well as for mugham lovers. The CD booklet gives detailed information about the music genre, the instruments as well as the ensemble which includes Gochaq Askerov (vocals), Aliagha Sadiyev (tar), Elshan Mansurov (kamancha), Shirzad Fataliyev (balaban, zurna), and Kamran Kerimov (naqara).

The Mugham vocalist Gochak Askerov (b. 1978) origins from the Qarabagh region which has throughout the history produced excellent singers. Among them is the named khanende Gochak whose warm voice is distinguished by softness and richness in timbre though being nevertheless strong and high in pitch. He is a student of the famous singer Arif Babayev. Enjoying high popularity in Azerbaijan Gochak Askerov often performs at public concerts and on TV. He won awards of two national Republican competitions of young traditional singers and toured the UK and USA in 2007. In the US American journalist Thomas Goltz' documentary film "Mugham in Montana" Gochak Askerov played a main role. On BBC Radio 3 he performed twice that same year in the "World Routes" program with Lucy Duran. He performed with Azerbaijans best daf master Mahmud Salah in UK and USA. Gochak Askerov performs frequently together with the gifted tar player Aliagha Sadiyev and the famous kamancha player Elshan Mansurov who was for many years member of Alim Qasimov's ensemble. Also the flutist of the Sari Gelin Ensemble performed together with this world-wide renowned vocalist. Shirzad Fataliyev is noted as the most outstanding Azerbaijani traditional woodwind instruments player. He origins from a family of musicians coming from the ashiq school of the city Shirvan which is famous for this bardic tradition. Shirzad's father is a very prominent musician. The ensemble's naqara player Kamran Kerimov has repeatedly performed with the brothers Elshan and Malik Mansurov as well as with Aliagha Sadiyev. Kamran toured Iran, Turkey, France, USA, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Japan, and South Korea.

The CD album was produced by the ethnomusicologist Ms. Sanubar Baghirova.

More details and some track samples can be found at http://www.arcmusic.co.uk/shop/musicfromazerbaijansarigelinensemble-p-797.html?language=en.

Personally this album brings back to me precious memories of my experiences at Azerbaijan's National Music Conservatory two years ago.

Absurdistan
$24.95
***1/2

Reportedly based on a true story (though with quite a bit of legendary embellishment, one assumes, at least in its more fantastical elements), "Absurdistan" takes place in a remote village where the women wage a full-fledged battle-of-the-sexes, agreeing to withhold their conjugal duties until the men in the community repair the pipe that for decades has brought water to the town. The story also features Tamelko (Max Mauff) and Aya (Kristyna Malerova) as two teenagers whose own plans to finally consummate their relationship must now be put on hold.

Homespun in appearance and humanistic in tone, "Absurdistan" (a German film done in Russian) is highly reminiscent of those quirky Czech comedies that enjoyed such popularity here in the States back in the 1960s. The scenes set in the past have been deliberately designed to look like aging home movies - grainy, washed-out, and scratchy - while those set in the present are crisp, clean and bursting with color.

The movie blends small town humor with touches of magic realism and the occasional flight of fancy. There are times, admittedly, when the movie gets a little too silly and cutesy for its own good, but, on the positive side, it never takes itself too seriously or condescends to its characters. The mood is upbeat and the details charming in what amounts to a modern-day (but not TOO modern-day) version of "Lysistrata."

Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War
$23.00
Black Garden gives an excellent rundown of both sides of this war between former republics of the old Soviet Union. Both sides would argue that their side was not properly represented, but in fact it was. This author, while not commonly known outside this region has interviewed scores of common and leading players on both sides in this unresolved conflict. It is a must read.

Azerbaijan, 2nd: With excursions to Georgia
$21.95
This book was very helpful while I was in Azerbaijan but some things desperately need to be updated. I only spent a couple weekends in Baku but the streets are changing all the time. We were unable to find three of the Chinese food restaurants and the one we finally did eat at wasn't listed. The snippets on the towns in the outlying regions could definitely be added to as well. All in all it still is the best guide on the market.