The Amina Figorova Sextet

Friday., May 4th at 9:30 p.m.
$10 cover

“… Above the Clouds confirms that Figarova is among the most important composers to come into jazz in the new millennium…” -Thomas Conrad, Jazztimes November 2008

Born in Baku, capitol of Azerbijan, to a high-achieving, musically appreciative family, Amina as a child enjoyed her parents’ records of Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. She was drawn to the piano at age two and commenced “special school” musical studies, which emphasized late 19th century European composition, at age six. She has recorded repertoire of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. She was also interested in Azerbaijan’s distinctively mixed ethnic folk music. “Rhythmically there are lots of influences, including elements from African and Arabic music,” she told Franz A. Matzner for an interview on AllAboutJazz.com. “It’s basically kind of like in jazz, an improvisation with the scales and the lyrics.”