Silence

A master of the traditional Turkish long-neck lutes, Coşkun Karademir has released several remarkably adventurous recordings. With The Secret Ensemble and by himself he recorded two splendid albums with Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat. His jazzy album, Kerbela, is dedicated to the holy city of Shia Islam. On Silence he is joined by Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, Derya Türkan on kemençe and Ömer Arslan on percussion.

The opening track, ‘Gondol’, starts with Gustavsen's piano, then the kemençe sets in, followed by subtle percussion, creating an evocative backdrop for Karademir's gently strummed lute. Track two, ‘Sirdaş’, is the opposite: fast, ecstatic, reminiscent of the drive of some of Dhafer Youssef's ‘spiritual trance’ music. These contrasting elements return in ‘Zahit Bizi Tan Eyleme’, with a soft-spoken opening on the lute, before a heavy low drum appears, speeding up the tempo, followed by the kemençe and finally the piano, all weaving into an almost funky groove.

The album was recorded in Istanbul after a concert in late 2019. It was one of the last overseen by Hasan Saltik, the legendary founder of Kalan Müzik, who passed away this June; the August/September 2021 (#170) issue had his obituary.