WOMAD

Gochag Askarov

From Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan's singing star-in-waiting
There's no doubting that the collective gaze of Europe's world music aficionados favours certain countries and regions of the world over others. West Africa, for instance, has enjoyed prolonged time in the sun - being able to tell our Tourés from our Diabatés is a pretty straightforward task. Other places remain largely cloaked in musical mystery, among them Azerbaijan. The Kronos Quartet-collaborating singer Alim Qasimov is the country's most visible musical export and another singer, Gochaq Askerov, seems sure to follow. A generation younger than Alim, Gochaq was featured heavily in the Radio 3 documentary Lucy Duran made last year on Azerbaijani music. Backed by centuries-old instrumentation, his voice makes a plaintive and lonesome sound. Indeed, despite the distance between their homelands, it rides the undulating air currents in a manner that recalls the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Over the past 27 years of WOMAD, we've encountered plenty of truly astonishing singers. Add one more to the list.
(Biography by Nige Tassell 2009)

Gochag Askarov