The Istanbul Four
Or how important it is to keep going!
The past week of the festival season gave us a lesson - how to do things right. But it also introduced us to the new album of the Istanbul quartet of Ilhan Ersahin. From Istanbul through London to all of us, today we listen to Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions last album Bir Zamanlar Simdi (Nublu records 2020) Once upon a time now... A return to the world of the Hittites. Almost all plays bear the titles of events, places and characters related to the history and mythology of the Hittites.
Each new album by Ilhan Ersahin's quartet is a challenge. Over the years, we learned not to judge before we heard the whole album a few times. It was the same with the last, fifth studio album, released a week ago. The single, released online in advance, simply gave an idea of the direction in which the album will develop. But then the words of Ilhan Ershahin at our last meeting two years ago in Belgrade, when he explained that he had planned together with other musicians to record an album with a world renowned producer - the Italian Tommaso Colliva; an album they can play live and full of life, so those words took over.
And we waited, we already learned our lesson not to judge from one listen, we waited for the whole album to come out.
The premiere took place typically in the context of modern times - first on non-commercial radio, somewhere in Palestine, then within a small group on YouTube.
There is an incredible tickle every time you listen to music that excites you before everyone else. Some mystery and empathy.
That is how it happened this time also.
And so until the live last Friday at the London Jazz Fest, which had an online audience many times bigger than all previous performances of the festival.
And every time with these musicians, two things come to the forefront - how important it is to listen to this music live and how important it is to listen to it many times. Because they are ahead of the times always, they say new things and judging by one listening is, to put it mildly, frivolous.
That's what happened this Friday in November, when the album was officially released.
Ilhan Ersahin's saxophone, Alp Ersonmez's bass, Turgut Alp Bekoğlu’ drums and Izzet Kizil's percussions breathe life into us.
It is with great pleasure that today we present the new album of Istanbul Sessions and their formal return to the old, rock and roll sound. The music of our time in the latest project of Ilhan Ersahin and his Istanbul Sessions… Eurasian taste, as the press calls them, modern fusion. These are qualifications for people who have been to their live performances. For us - a breath of fresh air in this reality.
Against the background of the whole modern situation, the quartet released an album full of life and hope. Again different, but also based on the tradition of gathering worlds, Istanbul Sessions are here, and we look forward to a new meeting with them live.
And the message: As we listen to the album, let's be happy! Let's steal those moments. Today we illustrate with the official video of „"Hurri-Mitanni (Güzel Haber)" and with a live from a week ago in eternal Istanbul.
As usual, you can listen to the entire album and buy it off digital platforms.
November 2020
©МА
