Let me introduce to you Mr. Jeffrey Werbock. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1951. In 1971 he moved to Los Angeles, California and the following year he met an elderly man from Daghestan who played traditional Azerbaijani music on one of their native instruments, the kamancha. From the first moment of listening to this strange and ancient music, Jeffrey was completely enthralled. With the guidance of Mr. Avshalomov, he began to study the cultures and peoples of the Caucasus Mountains, with a strong emphasis on the traditional music of Azerbaijan.
Only one year after they met, Jeffrey and his teacher moved to Brooklyn where they shared an apartment. After three years of intensive work together, Jeffrey moved to Manhattan in order to be closer to the center where world music began to acquire a following while continuing to study music with his teacher until he passed away in 1987. Mr. Avshalomov's passing prompted Jeffrey to go to Azerbaijan in search for more teachers, wishing to advance his understanding of mugham. Since then, he has given hundreds of concerts and lecture demonstrations at museums, colleges, universities and community concert venues in the United States, Europe, Israel and Azerbaijan.