Akustik

This is the fourth solo album from the Hamburg-based Turkish multi-instrumentalist and member of the band Niyaz. It brings together eight delicate, atmospheric instrumental acoustic tracks with sparse beauty and accomplished playing of traditional Turkish instruments.

As well as a virtuoso on the fretless guitar, Eroğlu also plays the oud, kopuz (a single-stringed saz made to be plucked with the fingers) and lavta (a smaller Turkish oud). All these traditional folk instruments are fretless, revealing the route into fretless guitar that Eroğlu has journeyed. Over the top of the plucked strings, Eroğlu plays the kaval (an end-blown flute similar to the ney) as a soloist instrument, its mournful melodies snaking above the rhythmic rumble of the strings. Akustik is a purely solo album, in which Eroğlu played all instruments in a single live recording session in late 2021. The repertoire spans Anatolia, with a mixture of Eroğlu’s own and traditional tunes, including two tracks taken from old recordings of the Public Radio of Armenia and others from musicians Koçgiri’li Resber, Kul Duran and Mehmet Çapan.