A masterful
Turkish-Philadelphia collaboration.
In recent years, there has been a trend in ethno
music to take traditional genres and mix them up
a bit with other styles of music, e.g., jazz or
electronica. This album is a very successful part
of that trend. I think the potential listener should
take the title of this album very seriously. I will
provide some explanation of the instruments in case
you are as ignorant as I am about music from the
Turkish tradition. Let me run down who is playing
first: Jamaaladeen Tacuma, the great bassist who
first came to note (at least, for me) as a member
of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time. Burhan Ocal, Turkish
multi-instrumentalist and singer plays various percussion,
tambourine, the saz (a string instrument related
to the bouzouki) and sings. Nathacha Atlas-singer.
Songul Artuk-singer. Miles Griffith-rap vocals Jack
Walruth- trumpet (the last one to play with Charles
Mingus and therefore a part of one of the world's
great musical heritages. Art Baron- trombone (Has
played with everyone from Duke Ellington to Roswell
Rudd to Stevie Wonder) Daryl Burge- trap drums Rick
Iannacone- guitar. (excellent jazz guitarist from
Philadelphia) Ben Schachter- alto and tenor saxophone
and flute. Ekrim Basi- darbuka (a type of drum)
Ferdi Nadaz- clarinet Fetih Tekyaygil- violin Sahin
Sert- kanun (zither) Arif Erdebil- ney (an end blown
flute) Salih Nazim Peker- saz There are some additional
musicians but the above are the main ones. You should
be able to get an idea of what this music will be
like if you imagine classical Turkish musicians
providing the basic rhythmic and harmonic structure
with funky and very free Philly jazz guys soloing
all the while being recorded with Euro-pop values.
Very cool. Odd meters expressed by superb drummers
with obbligato and solos by Americans and Turks
who can do nothing but play wonderfully. Burge and
Ocal play together like some powerful soulful rhythm
machine. Tacuma is one of the greatest bass players
alive and one of the few who is truly capable of
playing it as a lead instrument as well as a rhythm
instrument. Walrath is wonderful on this album.
His playing has made me want to search out CDs under
his own name. For me the vocals are the weak part
of the album. They are the part of the CD most under
the influence of the Euro-pop production aesthetic
I mentioned. I could have done without them but
perhaps that judgment is just an expression of my
own aesthetic limitations.
A
superb musical performance. If you like ethno-jazz
from the Balkans, this should be in your collection.
Personnel:
Nicolas Simion(Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet)
Angus bangus Thomas(bass)
Peter Perfido(drums)
Tracks:
Underground #2
Transylvanian Dance
Stag's March
Longing
Cold Turkey
The Wild Dogs of Giulesti
Slovakian Folk Song
Lazy Finger
Transylvanian Dance(Bonus Track)
Jazz
After Midnight/Compilation St Clair Entertainment/1999 Total time: 60:33 Includes:
Bill Evans - Polka Dots And Moonbeams
Manhattan Projects featuring Vincent Herring &
Roy Hargrove - 'Round Midnight
Dee Daniels - Blues in the Night
Ron Carter with Cedar Walton - My Funny Valentine
Royce Campbell - Stella by Starlight
Manhattan Projects featuring Roy Hargrove - Someday
My Prince Will Come
McCoy Tyner - Yesterdays
Rick Hollander Quartet - Skylark
Red Garland - Misty
Chet Baker - You And The Night And The Music
Aniversare
Ovidiu Lipan Tandarica
Ethno-fusion-groove from the Balkans performed by the
fantastic drummer and percutionist Ovidiu Lipan Tandarica
and his guests.
