Rain Sultanov, An Under-Recognized Master

In 2007 I spent some months on a work assignment in Azerbaijan. Needing my jazz fix, I checked out the local music scene and found that the main man on tenor in Baku is named Rain Sultanov. I looked him up. The first time we met he was playing soprano with piano accompaniment in the lobby of the Baku Hyatt, a high class lounge gig. 

Rain came by my hotel room one afternoon; I had picked up a DVD of Trane from the Jazz Casual series (1964) and was watching it on my laptop. Rain got his horn out of its case and just started playing along with Trane. My jaw dropped. He is a stunningly good player. 

I tried to talk him into regular lessons but he declined and gave me a few tips here and there instead, the kind of tips you can practice for years (you sound pretty good but try this with your phrasing...). For about a month he loaned me his Mark VI tenor to play on. We stayed in contact on and off for the time I was in Baku and then I was gone. 

I understand that in his high school days, Rain was the best clarinet player in the entire former Soviet Union. He spent some time playing in Germany, has recorded albums of both straight ahead Trane-influenced jazz and original jazz-Azeri fusion, but otherwise he is virtually unknown outside his homeland. I was pleasantly surprised to find him on the bill at the Penang Island Jazz Festival in 2010.

The Penang festival is a mix of mostly pop and fusion groups with an occasional hard-core jazz act thrown in, and Rain’s quartet was that year’s hard core act. His main stage set, I fear, was way over the head of the crowd which was expecting the Swingle Singers. I had the opportunity to jam with him after hours at the midnight jam on the last day of the festival, and he blew me off the stage on Impressions. I am pretty much fearless when it comes to jamming but this is one case where I was embarrassingly outclassed. I thank Rain for letting me sit in with him although he knows that. The video above is Rain and his quartet doing Giant Steps later that night, December 6, 2010. Elchin Shirinov is smokin' on keys and Rain's brother Ramin is on drums.

Jackie receiving instruction from Rain Sultanov. "No...no...no..."

Rain came by the house the next day and gave Jackie a sax lesson which she will not forget for a long time. It was a real treat for a young 14-year-old player to get a one-on-one with a world class performer. I hope Rain is keeping his gigs and recording projects up and finding wider recognition outside of Baku. He is a skilled and dedicated player and deserves it. Here is the link to his official web site.