The Baku International Jazz Festival is an annual

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

event founded and organized by saxophonist and

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

resident Rain Sultanov. The festival aims to showcase

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

's long-running attachment to jazz, a connection established in the country during the 1950s and 1960s when jazz was outlawed by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities. The festival has welcomed musicians from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, Italy, Israel, United States, Germany, Canada, and Russia. Acts appearing at the inaugural event in April 2005 included the Joe Zawinul Syndicate, Christoph Busse Trio from Germany, and Yakov Okun Quartet from Russia. The fourteen day event included a tribute Azerbaijani jazz musicians Rafig Babayev and his Gaya quartet and pianist Vagif Mustafa Zadeh. At the end of the first festival it was announced that the festival would become an annual event. In 2006 the festival took place from 19 to 27 June and was headlined by

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

and

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and ...

Gallery

Image:Aziza BakuJazz2007.jpg, Aziza Mustafa Zadeh 2007 Image:BillyCobham_BakuJazz2007.jpg,

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...

2007 Image:HiramBullock.jpg,

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Ja ...

2007 Image:TurnerBaku.jpg, Mark Turner 2007 Image:BakuJazz002.jpg, Poster of Baku Jazz Festival 2011 Image:Jazzaz.jpg, Poster of Baku Jazz Festival 2011 Image:Jazz festival in baku.jpg, Poster of Baku Jazz Festival 2011

References

Official site

Music festivals established in 2005 Jazz festivals in Azerbaijan Culture in Baku 2005 establishments in Azerbaijan Tourist attractions in Baku {{Jazz-festival-stub