Hüseyin Ertunç / Do?an Do?usel / Cem Tan / Umut Ça?lar Gümüslük Sessions: At Lon's 4xLP Box

Recorded over two days yet retaining a continuous, immediate vibe, the Sessions feature a stirring quartet with Ertunç on piano, Doğan Doğusel at double bass, the young drummer Cem Tan, and Umut Çağlar - a stalwart of the Konstrukt group - on reeds and percussion. In the caliber of multi-album statements like Taylor's Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (Shandar, 1969) and string instrumentalist and composer Alan Silva's Seasons (BYG, 1970), Gümüslük Sessions: At Lon's stretches out texturally and conceptually, although there's a loose, homegrown informality unique to these musicians' orbit (partly attributable to the dry, open recording quality). The initial marathon pace relaxes into nattering trails and the full ensemble falls away to reveal spare duos and trios over the course of eight sides. Ertunç's piano ebbs as zurna, flutes and bamboo reeds, auxiliary percussion and voices draw out the music's connection to folk forms, as well as the interleaved East-West textures of Yusef Lateef and the AACM. As 'out' as the music gets, there's always a center in Ertunç's keyboard approach; moreover, his linkages with the pliable, allover percussive buzz and thrumming pizzicato create a constant burble of jabbing movement. This is a clunky, Monkish swing or a playful push-pull, rather than the 'tinka-tinka-ting' of bebop. Concentrated, unflagging and incredibly spiritual, Ertunç, Cağlar, Doğusel and Tan have convened to structure an incredibly personal artistic document that speaks to the universal possibilities of freedom. (Clifford Allen)