"Sevda Elekberzade"
The singer is not afraid to start something that seems arguable, not delicate up to the classic glamour and something that perhaps will be at the soonest time removed of her repertoire and of our memory like some track disappearing on the sand of the desert.
In her approach to the classic she is interested not in the frozen, probed and affirmed by everybody. Always getting risk, she tries to sing the recognizable tunes in an another way and probably that’s why the same musicians stuff does not suit her and if she makes an attempt to perform mougham then she invites by tradition tar with kamancha but for any other case she can use a trumpet with ud (!).
Within a project there a lot of unexpected transformations – a piano tune “Hardasan” (“Where are you?”) by Seyid Roustamov looks like slow bossa; in original half-whisper performed in chanson style «Alvida» (Good-bye) by Emin Sabitoglu sounds passion with blues full colors in Sevda’s interpretation; «Lolo» looks like some piece performed by Senegal and Mali grits at the ritual holiday in Uganda; but “Shabi Hijran” itself is arranged as Negro gospel.
Although all that happens just today and now. If the CD like edition would not be fixed like a book but flexible and interactive like website and there would be a chance to renew it regularly, probably we could listen to the different versions of our favorite and familiar for ages songs. (By the way, it happened to “Alvida”, clip of which was already recorded in a wonderful arrangement of Salman Kambarov but later she made another, ensuring version of this song suggested by Emil Ibrahim: the voice and the piano in alive and changeable dialogue).
In spite of the fact that the project material is prepared based on work of numerous talented people the present project is concentrated at one brilliant person – singer Sevda Alekperzadeh who has her own unrepeatable and recognizable intonation remaining in her performance in spite of her great desire to try new vocal manners and traditions. It is intonation of a soul loving and creating not sometimes and not once but always, at any moment of its existence. In this aspect this name chosen for the mentioned music project explains to the audience its hidden meaning.
«Shabi Hijran» – so Sevda Alekperzadeh called her solo project. The singer explained that her decision was caused by a simple reason: her grandfather madly liked this melody and she also likes it very much. Although sometimes our actions and intentions which seem so explainable and reasonable for us have the more deep meaning or some lays of meaning or probably even an ocean of meanings… (By the way why Shabi Hijran, the sincere tune written by 23-yeared old Uzeir, still touches our hearts bored of the various music styles? May be it is caused by the only reason that we know it from the childhood?)
May be it was not just an occasion that Sevda decided to call her program in this way. It is really symbolic because Shabi Hijran was a prologue of the first East opera and the first opera was a beginning of a new way in Azerbaijan music development.
Actually whole the project program is encapsulated history of Azerbaijan song since ancient ritual tune to the hits of 70-s of XX century.
Sevda is not satisfied with a fast and noisy carrier of the pop-singer although she has a big repertoire of electron club styled music pieces which sounds very modern nowadays and Sevda has a great talent enough for keeping and attracting a wide audience interest. Shabi Hijran is another story, it is a strike of a soul, jump out of the border and when Sevda sings you can feel this attempt to avoid the ordinary and trivial way in a search of harmony and beauty in the world where ordinary eye-sighting cannot see anything…