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Biography
Vagif Mustafazadeh (Azerbaijani: Vaqif Mustafazadə; Russian: Вагиф Мустафазаде) was a Soviet Azeri jazz pianist and composer, famous for fusing jazz and traditional Azeri folk music known as mugam.
Azerbaijan fell under control of the Soviets in 1920, 20 years before Vagif was born. Five years after his birth and after World War II, Stalin said that jazz was "the music of capitalists" and had it banned throughout the entire Soviet Union. (Adolf Hitler had done the same in Germany in 1933, stating that it was "the music of the blacks".) Even music played on the saxophone was outlawed. The young Vagif, however, apparently cared little for the Soviets and their bans. As a child, he would listen to jazz on BBC broadcasts and sing Meykhana rhythmic poetry, which had also been banned, with friends. After listening on the radio, he and his friend Vagif Samadoglu would attempt to recreate the music on the piano.
