Alim Qasimov facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alim Qasimov
Background information
Born	(1957-08-14) August 14, 1957 (age 67) Nabur, Shamakhi District, Azerbaijani SSR, USSR
Origin	Shamakhi, Azerbaijan
Genres	Mugham
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Singing, Daf
Years active	1977–present

Alim Hamza oghlu Qasimov (Azerbaijani: Alim Həmzə oğlu Qasımov; born August 14, 1957) is an amazing Azerbaijani musician. He is known as one of the most important mugham singers in Azerbaijan. Mugham is a special kind of traditional Azerbaijani music. In 1999, he won the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize, which is one of the biggest international awards for music.

Alim Qasimov's music is special because he often makes up parts of his songs as he sings them. This is called improvisation. He also changed the traditional style of mugham, making it new and exciting. He has recorded nine albums, and three of them are mugham albums with his talented daughter, Farghana Qasimova.

The New York Times newspaper once said that Alim Qasimov is "simply one of the greatest singers alive." They praised his powerful and spontaneous singing. In 2012, he sang background vocals for fellow Azerbaijani singer Sabina Babayeva at the Grand Finale of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku. He was also part of the opening show for the Grand Final.

Early Life and Music Journey

Alim Qasimov was born in 1957 in Nabur, a village in Shamakhi, Azerbaijan. This village is about 100 kilometers north of the capital city, Baku. His family worked on a farm that was part of the Soviet system, and Alim helped them from a young age. He later said that growing up without much money taught him to live simply.

His father had a good singing voice but never became a professional singer. However, Alim loved to sing from a very young age. His parents noticed how much he wanted to make music. Since they didn't have money for an instrument, his father made him a simple drum using a frame and a goat's stomach lining.

Alim started singing at religious events. His parents encouraged him to study music at school. It wasn't always easy for him. Once, when he was fourteen, he performed in a local music contest, and the audience laughed because they thought he didn't understand the traditional style. But his parents told him to keep going, and he did.

At 21, he joined the state music school in Baku. He studied there for four years, focusing on how to use his voice and on mugham, which is a type of classical Azerbaijani song. He worked hard to improve his voice. His teachers were so impressed that they wanted him to take his final exams two years early! But he said no, believing he still needed more time to get better. He realized that music was not just a hobby for him; it was something he truly needed to do. He passed his final exam easily, but he later felt that he had focused too much on just singing perfectly. He believed it took him longer to truly understand the deep feelings and meaning of mugham.

Alim Qasimov's Musical Career

Alim Qasimov at the semi-final allocation draw ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

Alim Qasimov started singing professionally when Azerbaijan was still part of the Soviet Union. At that time, the traditional mugham style didn't get much support from the government. Performances were limited. But as Soviet influence lessened, Alim Qasimov became more and more popular. In 1983, he won the national Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu Singing Competition.

As his career grew, he became known around the world. He won awards at UNESCO events in 1983 and 1987. His tours were very popular both in Azerbaijan and in other countries. Traveling outside the Soviet Union was rare back then, so his concerts got a lot of attention in the news and on TV.

While his music career was growing, his personal life was also changing. Alim Qasimov and his wife, Tamilla Aslanova, had their first child, Ferghana Qasimova, in 1980. They later had two more children, a son named Gadir and another daughter named Dilruba. Even with these changes, Alim Qasimov's humble background continued to shape him and his music. He didn't let city influences or television change his style.

Over time, Alim Qasimov's music style grew to include not only traditional Azerbaijani music and mugham, but also ashiq. Ashiq is a rural storytelling and singing tradition from places like Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the Azeri region of Iran. He was also inspired by other artists, especially the Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Alim Qasimov said that hearing Khan sing "opened many doors" for him.

Alim Qasimov's success was even more impressive because he broke away from the very strict traditional mugham style. He brought his own ideas to the music. He saw this as a way to share mugham with more people and make it important for today's world. He said, "The world in which we live changes daily. Music has to lend emotional expression to this vitality. I accommodate that by seeking out new paths and interpretations."

He also changed the traditional mugham instruments. He added his own improvisation and new sounds from instruments like the double-reeded balaban (also called a duduk), the clarinet, and the nagara, which is a metal drum. He also made sure his music group had a mix of older, experienced musicians and younger, more energetic ones.

International Recognition and Collaborations

The 1990s were a busy time for Alim Qasimov, with concerts in Iran, Brazil, the United States, and all over Europe. His music became more known in Europe and North America after he met American musician Jeff Buckley at a classical music festival in France. Buckley loved Qasimov's music, and they performed a song together called "What Will You Say." This performance was even included on Buckley's album Live à l'Olympia. Buckley was very impressed, saying Qasimov "just came with his drum, and he sang, and it was so pure and effortless... That's what the voice is for." Qasimov was also happy with the collaboration, saying Buckley "was very gifted and had a real feeling for Eastern people." This performance helped introduce Qasimov's music to many new listeners in the West.

After Azerbaijan became independent from the Soviet Union, the artistic importance of Azerbaijani culture, including Alim Qasimov and mugham, started to be recognized internationally. Alim Qasimov was named the "People's Artist of Azerbaijan" in 1993. Then, in 1999, he received the highest honor in his field: the International IMC-UNESCO Music Prize. This award has been given to other famous musicians like Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Ravi Shankar, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Partly because of Alim Qasimov's many tours and his efforts to promote mugham, UNESCO declared the mugham of Azerbaijan a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2003. This helped make sure that this centuries-old classical tradition would be preserved. Alim Qasimov also started recording and releasing his music internationally for the first time. This began with Classical Mugham in 1996, followed by Azerbaijan: Art of the Mugham and Legendary Art of Mugham in 1998.

In 1999, Alim Qasimov and his daughter performed in a concert called “The Spirit of the East.” This concert was put together by Israeli musicians Peretz Eliyahu and Mark Eliyahu.

Working with Ferghana

Alim Qasimov's daughter, Ferghana Qasimova, had been practicing with her father since she was sixteen. She was a very dedicated student of mugham. By the time she was twenty, she had become a skilled singer herself. Alim Qasimov decided to bring her into his music group. Ferghana first appeared on the 1997 album The Legendary Art of Mugham, where they shared the singing on the song "Getme Getme."

Their next album included a song called "Bagishlamani," which was dedicated to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who inspired Alim Qasimov. This album was a big moment for Qasimov because it was his first widely available release to Western audiences, and it was a great success with music critics. His goal to connect younger generations with mugham started to work. He was not only appealing to traditional Islamic groups in Azerbaijan but also to more modern audiences.

This success among young people encouraged him. He said, "Sometimes young people come up after a concert to thank me. That's like giving me wings. I feel so elated when I can awaken such feelings in people while they are still young; mugham is not an easy genre for young people to understand."

Alim Qasimov continued to record and release more music, including The Art of Mugham in 1997 and Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan in 2007. In 2005, he performed in New York City as part of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. This project aimed to share art and culture between Eastern and Western countries. The New York Times said that Qasimov's performance, along with Malik Mansurov and Rauf Islamov, was the best part of the event.

He toured all over Europe, now with Ferghana by his side. They were often asked to perform at spiritual music festivals in countries like France and Egypt. Their performances were often praised by critics, no matter where they were. After a performance in London, Michael Church wrote in The Independent that "initial shock turned to delight as we were drawn into his intimate, multicoloured world." The father and daughter duo worked very well together. After their performance in Cairo in May 2008, Al-Ahram Weekly praised their powerful singing and stage presence, calling Qasimov "a master of mugham."

Their unique mugham style was also very popular in September 2008 when they worked with the experimental classical group, the Kronos Quartet. The band leader, David Harrington, really wanted to work with Alim Qasimov for the Ramadan Nights Festival. He said, "I realised his voice was as unique as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's... There's a special quality to that voice, a connection between it and his inner life...he is up there in the top five of all time [singers]." Even though there were some initial challenges because the Kronos Quartet had written music and Qasimov liked to improvise, the event received positive reviews. Robin Denselow of The Guardian newspaper wrote that Qasimov "is certainly one of the most thrilling, unashamedly emotional performers on the planet, and the finest exponent of mugham."

In 1995, Qasimov performed "What Will You Say" as a duet with Jeff Buckley at the Festival de la Musique Sacrée (Festival of Sacred Music) in France.

In 2014, Qasimov performed at the Festival Internacional Cervantino, which is the largest international festival in Latin America.

In 2015, Qasimov performed at the Opening Ceremony of the First European Games in Baku. He was part of the opening act and later sang from a flying carpet during the event.

Influence and Legacy

In 2009, Alim Qasimov was included in a book called 500 most influential Muslims of world. The famous Icelandic singer Björk has said that Alim Qasimov is her "favourite singer alive today." In 2009, the Turkish newspaper Zaman called him "Central Asia's Greatest Voice."

In 2010, Qasimov was nominated for the United States National Public Radio's "50 great voices in recorded history" award.

Personal Life

Alim Qasimov teaches mugham at the Asaf Zeynally Music School in Baku. In 2012, he spoke out to help stop violence against women.

Discography

Albums

• Classical Mugham (1996)
• The Legendary Art of Mugham (1997) with Alim Qasimov Ensemble
• The Art of Mugham: Azerbaidjan (Live) (1997)
• The Mugham of Azerbaidjan (1999)
• Love's Deep Ocean (1999) with Farghana Qasimova
• Oyanish (2003) with Coldünya
• Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan (2007) with Farghana Qasimova
• Intimate dialogue – live at Morgenland Festival Osnabrück 2009 with Farghana Qasimova
• Seven Beauties Music Project with Shoayb Shahabi (2018)
• Awakening (Buda Musique, 2019) with Michel Godard

As featured artist

See also

In Spanish: Alim Qasimov para niños