SFJAZZ is presenting Azerbaijani artists next month as part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Amina Figarova Sextet – Friday, June 9 – 7pm & 8:30pm – SFJAZZ Center Joe Henderson Lab 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA.

Amina is a jazz pianist and composer was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan.  She began studying music as a child learning the piano and expanding into musical composition and arrangement. Amina attended the Baku Conservatory, where she studied to be a classical concert pianist. She currently lives and teaches in New York, USA.

Combining her classical technique with a love for the music of Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, Figarova has released over a dozen exquisite sessions, beginning with her 1994 debut album, Attraction. Since that auspicious beginning, she has established her career based more on her own sterling compositions, and her efforts have been rewarded with appearances at jazz festivals in Newport, New Orleans, Chicago, Paris, and Detroit.

Shahin Novrasli  – Sunday, June 11, 5:30pm & 7:00pm – SFJAZZ Center Joe Henderson Lab 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA.

Shahin’s rare talent emerged from Azerbaijan’s various compositional influences as well as its unusual and rich musical heritage. At only eleven years old, he performed with the local Symphony Orchestra at the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall.

Elegantly blending his classical knowledge, Azerbaijan’s traditional folk Mugham and his jazz influences, Shahin created his own unique and accomplished musical universe, among which he combines eastern and western cultures.

Acclaimed musician has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the world, such as London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Black Sea Jazz Festival, Prague’s Mezinarodni Piano Festival and numerous clubs and festivals throughout the United States.

With a solo project, a trio with Ari Hoenig and Nathan Peck, countless collaborations with notably Kenny Wheeler, Iain Ballamy and Tim Garland, to name a few, Shahin is today an icon for Azerbaijan Jazz and has received enthusiastic comments from worldwide critics and audiences.

About SFJAZZ:

Founded by Randall Kline in 1983 under the name Jazz in the City, SFJAZZ has become the world’s leading cultural institution devoted to jazz and related forms of music, presenting over 300 performances each year at the new SFJAZZ Center and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.