Taksim Trio - Taksim Trio (2007)

«The Taksim Trio gave one of the standout showcases of last year's WOMEX in Seville. Of the three instrumentalists, Hüsnü Şenlendirici, has the highest profile as one of Turkey's top clarinettists – his last album sold over 160,000 copies and topped the Turkish charts for weeks. But kanun (zither) player Aytaç Doğan and electric saz player Ismail Tunçbilek form a beautifully balanced ensemble in a way that feels quite classical and traditional, yet which is actually quite bold and experimental in its approach. Taksim is the name of the busy square at the heart of Istanbul's Beyoğlu district (pictured on the album's cover)[in Western countries – the one you find here is the Turkish version] , but also the word for an instrumental improvisation in Turkish classical music. The music certainly feels fresh and improvised, although I suspect it is more pre-planned than it sounds. The three instrumentalists emerge from the trio to take solo breaks and then dive back in to toss around short phrases and motifs. Always there are the three distinct textures of dark clarinet, filigree kanun and saz veering towards electric guitar. Each of them gets a solo improvisational taksim track to really show off their skills, but it's in the organic interaction of the trio that this album really shines, as in the wistful closing “Muhayyer Kürdi Saz Semaisi”. Turkish classical, popular music and jazz seem to combine on a genuinely equal footing. The album would benefit from a little more exuberance and fire, but will appeal to newcomers to Turkish music as well as cognoscenti. And we already know that they're sensational live.» (Simon Broughton, Songlines)

Taksim Trio’s MySpace page
Turkish review here
Recensione in italiano qui

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