It seems that, as decades pass and the electric guitar mutates beyond mere processing, phase shifting, and chorus effects, there's yet another way to give the instrument new stances and voicings. Turkish-born
Timucin Sahin advances that notion with a jazz-influenced fusion music that runs parallel to modern contemporaries
Vijay Iyer and
Rudresh Mahanthappa, sans piano.
Sahin uses a double-necked guitar with fretted six-string and fretless seven-string options, similar to what
John McLaughlin used, but wielding a completely different sound. The razor-sharp, jagged-edged, wildly unfettered and alive approach he employs is unlike and incomparable to anyone else, even people like
Sonny Sharrock, just about the most untethered guitarist ever. With alto saxophonist
John O'Gallagher as his sidecar, the two run rails in electric, snake-quick stabbing melodies of peril and high-level gymnastics that at once threaten your sensibilities, yet challenge any norm of what might have been called organized musical structures. Yes, there's form and function, but a splattering of those sanguine notions is sure to perk up any progressive music listener's ears. Everything is based on angular lines darting and dashing about, with "Around B" emphasizing this precept in a reckless, viral, hyperactive mindset, starting with a fractured short line, chopping up a fleet melody, and moving on. A swooning guitar from
Sahin establishes "It's Time," one of four ten-minute tracks that are all vehicles for an involved, intricately woven kinetic energy that is unstoppable. "Bafa" is a funkier blues-based piece, constantly on the edge of busting out in an elusive time signature that sounds like 10/8, and informs you to be aware that the quieter ones are always the most dangerous. Where "I Know How to Live Like Stars" is deliberate, careful, more soulful, and deep but not contagious, the open-ended sad song "New Years Letter" is as robust yet incomplete and unresolved. The fabulous drummer
Tyshawn Sorey and bassist
Thomas Morgan are the perfect rhythm foils for
O'Gallagher and
Sahin in that they provide strong foundations to allow the other two to go off freely with no need for defined time constraints. On "Elif," the rhythm duo sets up a low-level shuttle to the Moon, then a funky strut, while "Ciccado & Guguk" is a sci-fi portrait of questionable associations, perhaps alien friends (maybe more) or foes that cryptically pose more questions than answers musically. There's so much music going on in this dense pastiche of colors and power that it takes getting used to, and on the third or fourth listen makes more sense.
Sahin himself is a fascinating musician who is only scratching the surface of his potential. For sure he's gone far beyond any discernible influences already, and should continue to make bold and innovative music, as heard in great quantity here.