Neotolian Song

Had Kate Bush come from Cappadocia, she might have sounded something like Turkish-born, Boston-based singer-songwriter Nazan Nihal. With her musical partner, pianist-composer Utar Artun, she reinterprets Anatolian folk songs, adding touches of improvised jazz plus strands of world music from Africa, India and the Middle East to form complex yet elegant new compositions. Employing traditional Turkish and Eastern instruments such as the qanun (zither), ney (flute), erhu (Chinese fiddle) and oud (lute), the album deals with themes ranging from lost ancient languages to the victims of modern terrorism. Sixteen guest musicians feature, in addition to a talented core quartet that hail from places as diverse as Lebanon, Finland, China and Iraq. The list includes Bobby McFerrin, Voicestra member Joey Blake (on the quirky ‘Rondo Afro Turca’), plus microtonal guitarist David Fiuczynski on ‘Değmen Benim Gamlı Yaslı Gönlüme (Don't Touch My Sorrowful, Mournful Heart)’.
Nihal's reedy and hauntingly ethereal voice shines on the beguiling ‘Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş Hayat (Once Upon a Life)’ while ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ almost reimagines Miles Davis at his most experimental (and perhaps slightly inaccessible), only painting sketches of the Syrian border rather than sketches of Spain. Challenging at times, this remains an enjoyable and interesting release for Turkophiles as well lovers of the avant-garde and world music in general.