Wedding music doesn't come much better than this, but if you had this band playing at your nuptials, they might outshine the ceremony.
Selim Sesler himself is a clarinetist par excellence, highly regarded in his native Turkey, as well he might be from the performances of the mostly traditional material here. But he leads a band that's up to the task, with every member a virtuoso and having the chance to show it, on pieces like "Yuksek Yuksek Tepeler." As you'd expect with wedding music, it's joyous and frantic, but never out of control. Although it says Anatolia on the label,
Sesler and his men cast their net wider to draw on music from other areas of Turkey, drafting in a pair of excellent singers to help them. Lovingly produced (there's a wonderful, brisk clarity to the sound), this is the kind of record that guarantees you won't stop moving. Designed for dancing, it's a testament to the power of the tradition that the music can be so powerful over so many generations. But even more it's about
Sesler, his ensemble, and his clarinet. He swings like
Benny Goodman, he can make his instrument wail and do almost everything but talk. It's pure excitement and pleasure.