Amina Figarova to Release FLYING HIGH ABOVE Album

Pianist and composer Amina Figarova will release her 20th album, Flying High Above, on November 6, 2026, on all streaming platforms and CD via her own AmFi Records imprint. The album connects Figarova's early passion for Cuban music with her lifelong dream of recording in Havana alongside local and expatriate Cuban musicians.

Growing up in Azerbaijan, Figarova fell in love with the music of Cuba and the Afro-Cuban diaspora. Even in those early years, Figarova could trace echoes of Cuba's percussive heritage in the rich tradition of drumming found in the music of her native country. There was a direct musical exchange as well — the pianist recalls seeing the pioneering Cuban ensemble Irakere live in Baku, while the congas were adopted by Azerbaijani bands. That formative passion helped spark the love of Afro-Cuban music that eventually led Figarova to her adopted home of New York and to acclaim as a prolific jazz musician and composer.

On Flying High Above, Figarova fulfills her lifelong dream of traveling to Cuba, collaborating with a mix of Havana-based and expatriate Cuban musicians on her 'Suite for Havana.' The album also features a set of compositions recorded in New York with some of Figarova's closest collaborators: flutist (and husband) Bart Platteau, her regular rhythm section of bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Rudy Royston, trumpeter Alex Pope Norris and saxophonist Troy Roberts.

'I've wanted to travel to Cuba for the longest time,' Figarova explains. 'Jazz and Cuban music were very popular in Azerbaijan when I was growing up, and I loved and was inspired by both of them. Finally, last year opportunity knocked at my door.'

That opportunity arrived in 2025 via an invitation to perform with her sextet at the Havana International Jazz Festival. While there she also collaborated with a bevy of local musicians, several of whom perform on 'Suite for Havana' — among them saxophonist Emir Santa Cruz Hernández, trumpeter Yasek Manzano, and drummer Oliver Valdés.

'It was an incredible experience,' Figarova recalls. 'It was everything I hoped and more, and at the same time nothing like I expected. The situation in Cuba is terrible, but the people and the musicians are amazing, so open, warm and beautiful.'

'Suite for Havana' was written in the exhilarating aftermath of that first trip, and recorded during Figarova's return visit to the festival in early 2026. In addition to the aforementioned Cuban musicians and Platteau, the ensemble for the three-movement suite also included trombonist Juan Carlos Marin, conga player Adel González, and Raul Reyes Bueno, a Cuban-born bassist who has lived in New York since 2010.

The third movement, 'Ya Llego,' adds the vocals of Cuban singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist YUSA, now based in New Orleans. A close friend of Figarova's, YUSA made the introductions to the Havana-based musicians on the album. She is backed by a pair of young vocalists — Mallay Blessing and Faith Tutu — who were previously members of the Matsiko World Orphan Choir, an ensemble of orphaned and at risk children from war-ravaged Liberia. The Matsiko World Orphan Choir made memorable contributions to Figarova's 2024 album Suite for Africa, after which the pianist invited Blessing and Tutu to live with her in the States.

'I wanted to help them to become what they want to be,' Figarova explains. 'And what they want to be is professional singers. So they're living here with me while they attend college.'

While 'Suite for Havana' provides a thrilling climax for the album, Flying High Above opens with its title track, originally written in anticipation of the journey. Recorded with Figarova's New York sextet, the piece captures the weightlessness and buoyant momentum of flight, while eagerly looking forward to the musical alchemy to come.

Beginning with Platteau's darting, flitting flute, soon countered by Roberts' more direct tenor drones, 'Focused' is a self-portrait of a multi-tasking mind. The composition's interwoven contrasts embody the struggle to maintain concentration among a barrage of thoughts and demands on our time. The elegant 'Sapphire Veil' conjures its name from Figarova's synesthesia, illustrating the vivid colors and gossamer textures suggested by the title. As mesmerizing, powerful and ever-changing as a flickering fire, 'Eternal Flame' evokes the fire temples of Azerbaijan, where flames emerge from the ground amidst stone altars dating back to the country's ancient history of Zoroastrianism. The piano trio piece 'Running Away' provides a lovely intermezzo between the sextet pieces and the suite, spotlighting the rhythm section's sensitive chemistry and Figarova's graceful lyricism.

While Flying High Above brings Figarova full circle, from the early influences of Cuban music to the accomplished jazz and classical pianist/composer of today, she recognizes that the lasting impact of her travels and experiences will continue to unfold in her music well into the future.

'This album has reconnected me with my childhood memories,' she says, 'but it's also creating new connections to music and people who are so warm and so beautiful. It definitely feels like the beginning of a new chapter for me.'

Flying High Above arrives November 6, 2026.

Tracklisting

1. Flying High Above 6:46

2. Focused 6:33

3. Sapphire Veil 7.52

4. Eternal Flame 12.08

5. Running Away 6:42

6. Suite for Havana - VAMOS 5:39

7. Suite for Havana - MIRTHA. 7:41

8. Suite for Havana - YA LLEGO. 7:05

Personnel

Amina Figarova - piano (all tracks)

Bart Platteau - flutes (1,2,3,4,6,7,8)

Alex Pope Norris - trumpet & flugelhorn (1,2,3,4)

Troy Roberts - tenorsax (1,2,3,4)

Yasushi Nakamura - bass (1,2,3,4,5)

Rudy Royston - drums (1,2,3,4,5)

Yasek Manzano - trumpet & flugelhorn (6,7,8)

Emir Santa Cruz Hernández - tenorsax (6,7,8)

Juan Carlos Marin 'El Trombón de Santa Amalia'- trombone (6,7,8)

Raul Reyes Bueno - bass (6,7,8)

Oliver Valdés - drums (6,7,8)

Adel González - congas (6,7,8)

YUSA - vocals (8)

Mallay Blessing - backing vocals (8)

Faith Tutu - backing vocals (8)

Cuban sessions were recorded in Havana on February 1, 2026.

For more information on Amina Figarova, visit Aminafigarova.com.

Need more Music Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...