Amina Figarova: Blue Whisper

In + Out Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Blue Whisper

Pianist/composer Amina Figarova was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, where she initially studied to become a classical artist. She switched to jazz and came to the States, where she studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. During that time she met her future husband, flutist Bart Platteau, who also is featured on this release.

Figarova has recorded about a dozen albums. She’s an outstanding composer and keyboardist, and she always surrounds herself with top-notch musicians. As a result of the early training, her style goes beyond straight-ahead jazz and into post-bop, classical and impressionistic; as time has passed, the latter forms have become more prominent. Such is the case with this album.

Almost a dozen artists contributed to these 10 songs; only Figarova and Platteau are constant throughout. She often bases her music as “responses to social turmoil, personalities encountered and transitions of life.” The results are intense, at times complex melodies, often balladic in tempo. It often doesn’t swing, and seldom excites the listener ... but that’s not to say it isn’t great music.

Figarova’s compositions are classically founded and played: quite sophisticated, harmonious stuff. Several of the charts — notably “Pictures” and “The Travelers” — were commissioned by Lincoln Center, for its New Jazz Standards series. 

The performance feature excellent ensemble lines and instrumental solo work. One tune (“Hewa”) has vocal passages sung in Swahili; Figarova’s many interests include that country’s customs, music and people.

This album may not swing like some of her previous work, but it’s deeply moving music: certainly worth your attention.

Amina Figarova: Twelve

In+Out Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Twelve

Amina Figarova, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, was playing piano and composing at a very early age. Her initial training was classical, as with many beginners, but because her parents were jazz fans, she also was exposed to icons such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. After schooling at the Baku Conservatory, jazz became her primary interest; it subsequently dominated her advanced studies at Rotterdam Conservatory and Boston’s Berklee College of Music. 

Figarova played extensively at festivals and concerts around the world with her groups, but she didn’t record her first CD (Attraction) until 1994. This new album is, aptly, her 12th release, and the 12 tracks are her own compositions. They’re based on places she has visited or resided, events that have been part of her life, or individuals she has known or worked with. 

The majority of her tunes can be categorized as tone-poems; balladic tempos are the norm, and the harmonic lines are relatively modern. The title tune resonates with December — her birth month — the release of this album, and the 12/8 meter used in the composition. In another composition, flavored by a beach-side picnic with her husband (flautist Bart Platteau), “Sneaky Seagulls” attempt to snatch bits of food from their table; the mood shifts to a happy, up-tempo format. 

All her songs make the listener a part of the interesting, and full, life that she has lived.

Figarova’s sextet has been a constant throughout her musical career. Platteau is an outstanding artist and one of most tasteful masters of that instrument I’ve ever heard. As for the rest, Ernie Hammes (trumpet and flugelhorn), Marc Mommaas (tenor and soprano saxes), Jerden Vieroad (bass) and Chris Strik (drums) have been key elements in most of her groups for years, and their talents meld wonderfully. 

Figarova and her group are at the top level of today’s jazz world, and they produce some of the most interesting music you’ll ever hear. This is a must-have album.

Amina Figarova: Above the Clouds

Munich Records
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 6.3.09
Buy CD: Above the Clouds

Hey gang, this time you get a twofer: a review of an excellent pianist/composer (Amina Figarova) and a geography lesson.

Figarova was born in 1964 in Baku, Azerbaijan, situated in the Caucasus between Europe and Asia. The country borders Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Iran and the Caspian Sea.

Figarova, raised by a musically appreciative family, grew up listening to her parents' records of Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, and became attracted to the piano at age 2. As is the case with many European musicians, she received much of her training in the classical field of 19th century compositions; as a student at Baku Conservatory, she concertized professionally and recorded the repertoire of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin.

Even so, she was intrigued by jazz, tinged with an ethnic folk music mix.

She began to write her own music. She initially used commercial pop formats but, after visiting the Moscow Jazz Festival in 1988, she accepted an invitation to study composition in the Netherlands. Within a month, she switched to a jazz program; after a year, she went to the Berklee College of Music.

In 1998, she was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Jazz Colony in Aspen, Colo. She met her husband, multi-flutist Bart Platteau; they formed a combo and began touring internationally.

This album features their usual septet — piano, flute, bass, drums, trumpet, flugelhorn and sax — with an added trombone and sax on several tracks. The group is truly excellent: Figarova and Platteau in particular, but also the entire supporting cast as well.

Figarova composed and arranged all the tunes. The arrangements demand your attention: The album is lyrical and beautiful, and it really swings.

This is modern jazz at its best!