Documentary Film: Young Voices, Ancient Song

The film “Young Voices, Ancient Song” is a documentary film on the history and present state of the ancient Azeri musical art called Mugham. A unique regional flavor of the pan-Arabic phenomenon of Maqam, this music carries the oral history of the people of Azerbaijan. It’s songs traverse topics such as love and marriage, struggle against conquering peoples, a mystical bond with nature. The instrumental improvisations in Mugham are often intended to be trance-inducing and there is a strong spiritual component to the themes of much of the music.

It focuses on the perspective of the America Mugham proponent named Jeffrey Werbock. Jeff came into contact with the music as a young man and became profoundly transformed by it. Since then he has been honored by the University of Baku with an Honorary Doctorate for his work in advocacy for the music and folklore of Azerbaijan.