Dance to the Sun

Turkey has no shortage of baglama (lute) masters working on new forms of expression, and Europe has no shortage of transnational groups using Oriental instruments. But this album, from saz player Taner Akyol, wins you over with its integrity of purpose, originality and strikingly dramatic intensity of the music. Here the Turkish material – compositions and instrumental sounds – are in deep and meaningful dialogue with the piano, that most symbolic instrument of European music, played by Greek pianist Anthonis Anissegos, with the percussion instruments of David Kuckhermann acting as catalyst.

The improvisations are frequent and fearless, but the traditional melodies in this well-balanced repertoire are treated with respect. The original pieces by Akyol are oriented towards dancing rhythms, and the traditional pieces range from the Aegean to Azerbaijan, including a deyiş, or mystical song, composed by Arif Sag on a poem by the 15th-century poet Şah Hatay (with lyrics included and bravely translated). In the first track, the trio plays a composition by piano virtuoso and political polemicist Fazil Say, based on a song by famous bard Aşik Veysel.

Rarely have the various fusion experiments between European and Turkish music in the fields of classical composition or jazz achieved such a degree of success, without even a shade of postcard Orientalism.