The town of Kelbadjar is located in Karabakh and this region is under Armenian occupation. Poet, messenger, emotional catalyst - the bard singer (ashik) travels alone. He is a master of adaptation, receptive to the reactions of his audience which he immediately integrates into his artistic discourse. He occasionally stops singing to tell a legend or a story whose content is then continued in his song. The ashik from Kelbadjar plays the saz standing up, holding the sounding board almost horizontally to ensure that the rich harmonies of the instrument perfectly accompany his voice.
The singing prowess of the ashiks from Shirvan, a region north east of Baku, draws on a long and deep tradition. The Caucasian bards sing about love and pay tribute to the legend of the life and the riding skills of the old clans of the region. The only things ashiks require to perform their traditional melodies is a singer, a Balaban, an oboe with a very vivid sound, and the gosha naghara, bongos played with two short sticks. During the instrumental sequences, subtle dancing steps are implied, illustrating the complexity of folk music.
