Musically speaking, the province of Karabakh is for Azerbaijan what Andalusia is for Spain. The long-standing ensemble "Karabakh Bülbülleri" - the "Nightingales from Karabakh" - has been together for more than 40 years and uses its vocal and instrumental skills to underline the musical wealth of a region that has been cut off from the mother country due to a foreign occupation. Rafig Rüstamov has been head of the ensemble for 25 years and attends to the training of budding singers, such as Halima Veyisova and Sebuhi Ibayev, who have been learning from the tar master since the age of ten. The nightingale (bülbül) is a source of inspiration in numerous poems, a messenger of love that is a symbol for singing perfection and poetic inspiration.
Their music, which is somewhere between classic mugham and cleverly arranged folk songs, reminds the listener of a bygone era and their deep-rooted affection for Azerbaijan.
