Azerbaijani Gitara
Bongo Joe (44 mins)
As well as a hot contender for this year’s Most Charmingly Naff Cover Photo award, the inside of this album is just as fun and fascinating as what’s on the outside.
This career retrospective introduces the world to the late Rüstəm Quliyev, the electric guitarist who set the standard for open-eared instrumental pop in Azerbaijan. He developed his own sound from his first instrument, the tar (hourglass-shaped long-necked lute): with fast tremolo picking and melodies played up and down a single string, Quliyev gives the electric guitar a distinctive Azeri flair. Only ever backed by a keyboard and a drum machine, the retro timbres accompany Quliyev through the music of Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan and India, and provide a neat disco shimmy while they’re at it.
It’s all good stuff here, but the highlights come when Quliyev points his plectrum towards traditional repertoire: ‘Əfqan Musiqisi’ is a particular treat based on Afghan folk melodies, and ‘Yanıq Kərəmi’ has a compelling two-and-a-half minute introduction before he kicks it up a notch for some fully-distorted twang, all derived from the music of Azerbaijan’s aşıq bards.
If you’ve been looking for the centre of that Venn diagram between Bahram Mansurov, Dick Dale and Omar Souleyman, you’ve found the perfect album.