16 Facts About Vagif Mustafazadeh

Vagif Mustafazadeh, known as Vaqif Mustafa-Zadeh, was a Soviet-Azerbaijani jazz pianist and composer, acclaimed for fusing jazz and the traditional Azerbaijani folk music, known as mugham.

Vagif Mustafazadeh was born in Old City, the historic core of Baku, on March 16,1940.

Vagif Mustafazadeh's name was chosen by the renowned poet, Samed Vurgun, on the request of his mother, who was a piano teacher in a local music school and played a very influential and immeasurable role in his success.

Vagif Mustafazadeh first achieved fame at the Music School where he studied by giving concerts there, later on performing at the parties and evenings held at the universities and clubs, shortly after he became one of the most influential musical performers in Azerbaijan.

Vagif Mustafazadeh's name was often mentioned among other jazz musicians and he participated in festivals held in his native land, as well as in and outside the Soviet countries.

Vagif Mustafazadeh is the most lyrical pianist I have ever known.

Vagif Mustafazadeh attended "Tallinn-66" All-Soviet Union Jazz Festival and "Caz-69" Azerbaijani jazz festivals and was awarded as laureate there.

Vagif Mustafazadeh was elected as laureate at Donetsk All-Soviet Union Jazz Festival held in 1977.

Vagif Mustafazadeh was elected as the best pianist in "Tbilisi-78".

Vagif Mustafazadeh won first prize at the 8th International Competition of Jazz Composers for his composition "Waiting for Aziza" in Monaco in 1978, and was awarded a white grand piano, but died the next year.

Vagif Mustafazadeh is the founder of Azerbaijani jazz mugham movement that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Baku, as a result of the mixture of these two styles.

Vagif Mustafazadeh began searching for new ways to structure his improvisations by exploring modal music.

Vagif Mustafazadeh died of a heart attack shortly after a concert in Tashkent and shortly before the birthdays of his wife and daughter.

Vagif Mustafazadeh was married twice; from his first marriage he had a daughter named Lala, a talented classical pianist.

Vagif Mustafazadeh won the Grand Prize in the Epinal Piano Competition, France, in 1991.

Vagif Mustafazadeh's second marriage was to Eliza, and from that union was born Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, a jazz musician.