Peter Brötzmann – tenor & alto saxophones, clarinet | Hüseyin Ertunç – acoustic piano, küstüfon, gong | Doğan Doğusel – double bass, küstüfon | Barlas Tan Özemek – electric guitar (parts 6,7) | Korhan Futaci – tenor & soprano saxophones | Umut Çağlar – electric guitar (parts 1,2,3,4,5,8) | Özün Usta – double bass, djembe, gong, bells | Korhan Argüden – drums, old k zildjian cymbals
Recorded at Eklisia (an old chapel constructed in the 17th century), Gümüşlük, Bodrum by Barlas Tan Özemek & Umut Çağlar on the 15th of May, 2011. Mixed by Barlas Tan Ozemek and Korhan Futaci at Atölye Ciftenavuzlar, Istanbul, May-June, 2011. Mastering by Rafal Drewniany at dts studio. Photos by Yelda Tarkan-Argüden. Layout by Marek Wajda.
Tracklist: 1. Part 1 [14:13] 2. Part 2 [09:12] 3. Part 3 [22:36] 4. Part 4 [09:41]
Eklisia Sunday (Not Two) was recorded near Bodrum, Turkey
on May 15 2011, seven months before the Wels festival. The event presumably marked the belated release of a Konstrukt/Brötzmann album, Dolunay (ARES), which they had recorded in 2008.
Konstrukt is an Istanbul-based improv group; not one I’ve previously known, although it also collaborated in 2011 both with Marshall Allen and—as documented on the album Live at Akbank Jazz Festival (Re:konstruKt)—Evan Parker.
The usual Konstrukt lineup—Korhan Futaci, tenor & soprano saxophones; Umut Çağlar, electric guitar; Özün Usta, double bass, djembe, gong, bells; Korhan Argüden, drums and “old k zildjian cymbals”—here becomes an septet with the addition of Brötzmann (tenor & alto saxophones, clarinet) and additional guests: Hüseyin Ertunç, acoustic piano, küstüfon, gong; and Doğan Doğusel, double bass, küstüfon. An eighth player, Barlas Tan Özemek stands in for Umut Çağlar on the third and longest track.
Konstrukt’s Çağlar and Usta elsewhere play electric organ and synth, and electric bass respectively; but for this concert, held in a 17th century chapel at Eklisia, the group explore an often thoughtful, mostly acoustic dynamic. The chapel acoustics, and perhaps the album’s mediating production impart a dry, airy sound which oddly complements the performance.
The küstüfon played by two of the guests is apparently a reed instrument of 80s invention. You can hear it best at the end of “Part I”. Brötzmann, having got the session underway with a brief, typically grizzled solo, is soon bolstered by the punchy rhythmic play of Usta’s djembra. A frantic collective blow-out then develops, but suddenly abates, foregrounding a calm, discursive exchange of papery küstüfon reeds and dry-bone guitar. Brötzmann’s clarinet reinforces the sere texture, while Futaci’s sax sweetens it.
“Part II” is more ruminative, with lots of space for the twin double-basses to twine lines. Brötzmann enters 4 minutes into “Part III”, puncturing a miasma of rustling percussives from kit drums, piano and guitar. Soon three saxes are trading licks and things are broiling nicely, but the music never descends into free-for-all; everyone holds some degree of intensity in reserve. The first 3’50″ of “Part IV” is a sensitive conversation between piano and clarinet; then the time for controlled collective combustion finally arrives.
Brötzmann evidently enjoyed his Eklisia Sunday, since he reunited with Konstrukt in 2012 for an appearance at Krakow Autumn Jazz. He’s always re-contextualising his music. It’s a truth explicitly acknowledged in the title of Long Story Short, although the précis which that box set offers is as complete as you might reasonably hope, and offers fresh discourse besides. — Dalston Sound
The Turkish free jazz outfit KonstruKt
might be considered the most evolved improvisational band working in jazz today. Founded, not in the hotbeds of jazz, London, New York, Chicago, Wuppertal, or Krakow, their isolation is the key to their success.
Well, isolation and observation.
Although this band was formed in 2008, their free jazz ears date back to the 1960s. The band has absorbed the lessons of John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1967), Peter Brötzmann’s Machine Gun (FMP, 1968), and more recent works by Ivo Perelman, William Parker, and Joe McPhee.
This live disc was recorded in May 2011 in Gümüşlük, Turkey, and reunites the quartet with Peter Brötzmann, their guest from a 2008 recording Dolunay (re:konstruKt, 2010). The quartet’s basic lineup of Korhan Futaci (saxophone), Umut Çağlar (electric guitar), Özün Usta (bass), and Korhan Argüden (drums) is augmented here by an additional bassist, guitar, piano, and saxophone.
That said this large-ish ensemble, to KonstruKt’s credit, makes much more than noisy energy jazz. The music is presented in four lengthy parts, each with a nuggets (maybe blocks) of artful music making. The disc opens with a saxophone (I’m guessing it’s Futaci) wandering among his quartet before Usta’s djembe drum sets the pulse. While the large ensemble slowly joins in, the structure of the piece remains. A coherent groove and consistent energy is sustained, as the piece burns itself into exhaustion, some gentle guitar notes are played over delicate reed work. The longest piece, “Part III” (22:36) is a nomadic opus. The piece sustains a shamanistic energy through percussion, bells, double electric guitars, and ever-spiraling- upward saxophones. The rhapsodic vibe throughout organizes and highlights this excellent date. — Mark Corroto
CD version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)