Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
Always

If jazz was born from the melting pot that emerged in the early twentieth century in the United States, it shouldn't be too surprising that, in times of the "global village," this eternally bubbling melting pot enriches itself with stimuli and suggestions from the most remote parts of the world, including the small former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

The pianist and singer Aziza Mustafa Zadeh is a double child of art. Her father is the great Vagif Mustafa Zadeh, one of the most seminal and innovative pianists to come from the then USSR, who tragically passed away at the age of forty. He was a proponent of a fusion between jazz and mugam, Azeri traditional music. Her mother Eliza is a classical singer from neighboring Georgia. With such a background, young Aziza truly had an embarrassment of riches in terms of artistic paths to pursue for success. She showed interest in painting and dance, but it soon became evident that her excellence would be achieved in music. In fact, in 1986, at the mere age of seventeen, she won the prestigious "Thelonious Monk" award in Washington, marking the first step of a highly successful international career.

This "Always," the pianist's second album, released in 1993, winner of the Phono Academy Prize in Germany and the Echo Prize from Sony, alternates between solo performances and trios, accompanied by what was then the rhythmic backbone of Chick Corea's bands: drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci. If Corea (alongside Jarrett) is the most recognizable influence on the more outright jazz side, it is also true that our artist's great preparation and musical culture also draw from the classical world, from Chopin to Rachmaninoff. Zadeh showcases sumptuous piano playing, luxuriant, with a highly agile left hand that unleashes little rhythmic earthquakes. Her compositions, the result of refined, complex thematic layers, inevitably evoke for Western ears the exoticism and mystery conjured by much Oriental-inspired romantic music. With the difference that here we are facing the original...

Moreover, she is a singer with a lyrical foundation, endowed with a remarkable vocal range, with a particular penchant for excursions into the higher registers. It seems impossible that such a torrent of musical energy could flow from such an ethereal woman: for this reason, Aziza should be especially appreciated live, also because - remember, your humble reviewer is still a man - she possesses breathtaking beauty and charm.

To tell the truth, while recognizing the extraordinary vocal versatility of the Azeri pianist, it seems to me that the sung pieces are the least successful. Whether she sings actual lyrics in her native language or performs a sort of "Middle Eastern scat," the impression is that she indulges in a kind of virtuosity for its own sake... But these are nonetheless minor sins, more than compensated by the numerous moments when her fingers perform miracles on the keyboard. Tracks like "Vagif" (dedicated to her father), "Heartbeat," and "Kaukas Mountains" are rich with scorching improvisations that are not easily forgotten.

Subsequently, Zadeh released several other works, all interesting, featuring fusion musicians such as Al di Meola and Stanley Clarke ("Dance of Fire"), or entirely solo, like "Seventh Truth," which caused a minor scandal in her home country due to a chaste nude on the cover. An artist to discover.