Trio

The tanbur is a longnecked, fretted string instrument with a hemispheric body. It came to epitomise classical music for the Ottoman court, and has since then retained a place of pre-eminence in Turkish music. With its resonant, deep voice, and typical tremolos and vibratos (obtained by actually bending the neck), it is used in dialogue with the vocals both in secular and sacred music, lending itself especially well to melodic improvisation on makams, the Oriental melodic modes, and the programme on this exceptional CD presents pieces grouped by makam. With his wide experience in classical ensembles as well as in groups like Ince Saz and Yansimalar, Murat Aydemir is rightly considered one of the world's masters of the instrument, and this recording showcases his lyrical lines backed by the jazz-oriented double bass of Volkan Hürsever and the Iranian percussion of Reza Samani. The combination is perfectly balanced, producing a nuanced, rich sound-world from the swinging ‘Rast Murassa’ through the measured step of ‘Kabartan Zeybegi’ to the final meditative ‘Tasvir’. Two pieces feature vocal improvisations: on ‘Hicaz,’ Iranian singer Mahyar Shadorvan sings a well proportioned avaz on a contemporary Iranian tune while the opening hymn from the Halveti Sufi brotherhood is embellished with a burning gazel by Ahmet Erdoğdular. A beautiful recording in its simplicity: here, classical and traditional music sound effortlessly modern and supremely elegant.