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At the Philharmonie in Munich in 1994, the Azerbaijani musician Aziza Mustafa performed a selection of jazz standards and well as own compositions when she was 25 years old. 0:15 Always 4:55 Quiet Alone 9:52 Mon Vagilim Giziyam 16:45 Oriental Fantasy 23:22 Antônio Carlos Jobim - Black Orpheus 31:40 Heartbeat 37:30 Gachma Gözal 43:52 Billie Holiday - Don`t Explain 51:45 Inspiration 57:34 Dave Brubeck - Take Five Encore: Women Aziza Mustafa was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1969. As child of two musicians, Aziza Mustafa grew up knowing and enjoying the music, specially the piano. She soon began displaying a gift for improvisation. When her father died on stage at the age of 39, it was a shocking blow to the young Aziza, and a major turning point in her life. When she was 17, she won the Thelonious Monk piano competition in Washington DC, playing some of Monk's compositions but in her own mugam-influenced style. Around the same time, she moved to Germany with her mother and concentrated on developing her own distinctive musical direction. In 1991, she released her debut album, entitled simply “Aziza Mustafa Zadeh“. It was immediatly clear that this was an artist with an unusial and remarkable voice, able to blend her ethnic roots with both classical and jazz inputs. So impressive were her talents that a prestigious squad of jazz musicians chose to join her in the studio for 1995's Dance Of Fire. Many less self-assured artist might have been overawed by a line up comprising guitarist Al Di Meola, bassman Stanley Clarke, former Weather Report, drummer Omar Hakim and saxophonist Bill Evans, but Aziza produced a new album unmistakably imbued with her particular musical inclinations. Watch the Aziza Mustafa's single performances:
