—George Gershwin
Michael Buble's Cry Me a River
When a song has been recorded by this many artists, its difficult to make an original sound. That’s not a problem Michael Buble has on his new album, Crazy Love where he records a brassy, accusatory version of the song. Where others were sultry, Buble is confident, where others were mournful, Buble is merciless.
The brass is the most shocking. Buble has 14 members of his band and 8 of them play brass. The heavy intro gives you an idea of what will follow. The James Bond style mixture of guitar, drums, and brass results in a strong and angry version of this great song.
Azerbaijan - Land of Fire
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ulviyya’s country, Azerbaijan is known as the Land of Fire. The nickname comes from the ‘burning mountains’ where gas seeps from the soil, and, once ignited, burns as if the mountain itself is on fire.
Azerbaijan was probably the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion which believed fire was sacred. An ancient fire-worshipper’s temple still exists. On the first day of spring, called Novruz, children still jump over fires leaving behind the bad things from the past year in the fire.
Today Azerbaijan is still known for its natural resources (there is still a burning mountain outside of Baku) as well as its culture of hospitality and its link between East and West. For centuries Azerbaijan has been a key destination for foreign visitors and the blend of traditional Azerbaijani culture with Russian, Turkish, Georgian, Persian, European, and other nations’ cultures is obvious from your first visit.
When you visit Azerbaijan, come look at our architecture, painting, classical music, jazz, photography and other arts, and see the blend of influences that have become uniquely Azerbaijani.
Azerbaijan was probably the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion which believed fire was sacred. An ancient fire-worshipper’s temple still exists. On the first day of spring, called Novruz, children still jump over fires leaving behind the bad things from the past year in the fire.
Today Azerbaijan is still known for its natural resources (there is still a burning mountain outside of Baku) as well as its culture of hospitality and its link between East and West. For centuries Azerbaijan has been a key destination for foreign visitors and the blend of traditional Azerbaijani culture with Russian, Turkish, Georgian, Persian, European, and other nations’ cultures is obvious from your first visit.
When you visit Azerbaijan, come look at our architecture, painting, classical music, jazz, photography and other arts, and see the blend of influences that have become uniquely Azerbaijani.
Jazz Quote of the Day
Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.
—Miles Davis
—Miles Davis
Jazz Profile: Nino Katamadze
Nino Katamadze is a Georgian jazz singer from Adjara who began singing on stage at the age of four. While she studied music and continued her singing, the true beginning of her career was in 2000 when she began working with the group which would become Insight. Their first international tour was in 2002, touring the EU and was followed by her album Ordinary Day. Then in 2005, she performed at the birthplace of jazz, the United States and was received as a great success. In 2006, she began her ‘color series’ of albums; Black (2006) White (2006) Blue (2008). White became very successful and went on to sell over 700.000 copies. Katamadze’s music has contributed to a number of Georgian, Ukrainian, and Russian films.
Interestingly, her group Insight consists of drums, guitar, and a bass - no piano - which added with Katamadze's breathy sensual style, gives an airy, ethereal emotion to their songs.
In 2009, Katamadze visited neighboring Azerbaijan, where she met Ulviyya Rahimova. They performed a duet of Katamadze’s song ‘Olei’ which has also become an important piece of Ulviyya’s repertoire.
Christmas Jazz
On Christmas night, Ulviyya gave a special concert at the Jazz Centre in Baku. Performing her blend of soul and jazz, Ulviyya collaborated with a number of talented jazz musicians from Baku resulting in a stage full of creativity and an audience full of clapping and dancing jazz enthusiasts. Throughout the evening as more musicians joined, the audience enjoyed performances by 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival Winner Isfar Sarabski, local club talent DJ Mansur providing beats and mixes, two sets of drums providing even more percussion , dueling saxophones, and more vocals by Diana Hajiyeva. Tables were sold so quickly after the concert announcement; the performance was continued the evening of December 26.
Welcome to Ulviyya's Blog!
Welcome to the Blog! Here we will be providing information about future performances by Ulviyya, notes on her style, and some interesting news, reviews, and anecdotes about jazz.
By following the blog you not only learn about Ulviyya's music. For those readers not familiar with Ulviyya’s home country, some interesting facts about Azerbaijan will be shared. Also, there will be updates on what is new in the world of jazz, profiles of Ulviyya's favorite artists, and some basics about jazz.
Feel free to contact us at the e-mail address below. Tell us about your favorite albums, what you’re listening to, song suggestions for Ulviyya, or if you would like to book a performance by Ulviyya.
By following the blog you not only learn about Ulviyya's music. For those readers not familiar with Ulviyya’s home country, some interesting facts about Azerbaijan will be shared. Also, there will be updates on what is new in the world of jazz, profiles of Ulviyya's favorite artists, and some basics about jazz.
Feel free to contact us at the e-mail address below. Tell us about your favorite albums, what you’re listening to, song suggestions for Ulviyya, or if you would like to book a performance by Ulviyya.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
