Teacher at the National Conservatoire of Azerbaijan, Zabit Nabizade represents the mugam’s tradition. Aliasker Mammadov and Khayyam Mammadov accompany him respectively with the tar and the kamanchté.
Mugam is both a lettered belief and a popular musical tradition, widely open to improvisation. It combines one singer with traditional instrument players (lute tar, kemence and tambourine daf).
Mugam comes from the meeting of Persian, Oghuz Turkish and Caucasian populations, which have their origin in the Azerbaijani culture. Thus, mugam is a bright mix of Iranian maqam, Persian radif  and Turkish makam. Mugam also embraced melodies and performance technics of ashiq bards who used to travel through the country,  in order to creat a really original and rooted form of expression. Today, you can all the more hear mugam played during toy-s wedding celebrations since exceptional singers such as Alim QASIMOV contributed to make mugam famous outside Azerbaijan.
In 2003, it was recognized as “Masterpiece of the oral and immaterial Heritage” by UNESCO.