CULTURE
“FIRE WIND” – AZERBAIJANI JAZZ ABROAD
Amina Figarova is considered one of the most talented jazz musicians and composers in Europe.
She has traveled an unusual path to recognition. After completing her music studies at the conservatory in Baku she continued her education in Europe and the United States. First she graduated form the Rotterdam conservatory in The Netherlands and then from the renowned Berklee College of music in Boston.
While living and working in Moscow in 1990, she became a member of the Soviet Union of Composers. There, she was regularly invited to give concerts in The Netherlands, which led to an invitation for a complementary education in Rotterdam, the city where Amina Figarova currently resides.
Amina Figarova plays jazz concerts all over the world that are scheduled far in advance. She is a regular guest at famous venues such as The North Sea Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival, and other jazz events in the US, Brazil and Indonesia. Ms Figarova’s upcoming sets of performances will take place in Mexico, Belgium and The Netherlands. Living in The Netherlands, says Amina, makes for an open and exciting environment for an artist because of its free spirit and progressive creativity. And of course Ms Figarova does not forget her home country: She frequently returns to Baku for concerts and to participate in the yearly Azerbaijan Jazz Festival.
Her most recent CD “ Come escape with me”, has been in the top ten jazz CD charts in the US for already three weeks. And almost all of the music is written by Amina herself. In the interview with Azertag, Amina told that the first CD “ Attraction” was released in 1994, followed by “ Another Me”, “ Night train”, “ Live in Amsterdam”, “September Suite”, commemorating the events of 11 September 2001 in New York, “Live in Europe” and others. Her CD “Fire Wind” clearly marked her connection with her birth place, windy Baku.
Amina performed her most recent concerts in Brussels and in the Dutch city of Bussum on September 29 and 30 respectively.