Before Dagestan, in southern Russia, became a worthless subsidiary for radical Islamists, it was producing some rather amazing musicians and composers of note. Murad Kazhlaev (sometimes transliterated as Murad Kajlayev) hailed originally from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from a Lak family. He moved on to Dagestan, and would work with the Melodiya Records Orchestra, churning out great jazz like this.

If anyone from Dagestan could give me information on more interesting artists, I’d be indebted.