Home » Jazz Articles » Multiple Reviews » Konstrukt & Their Mighty Fine Guests

Konstrukt & Their Mighty Fine Guests

By Mark Corroto
June 12, 2011
View read count

Freedom is sweeping the globe. Maybe not in terms of political discourse, business or education, but maybe more importantly, musically. In places like Beirut and Istanbul, the free jazz scene is very much alive. The band konstruKt, made up of guitarist Umut ?a?lar, saxophonist Korhan Futaci, drummer Korhan Arg��den and percussionist ?z��n Usta has been garnering attention not only at home in Turkey but in European improvised music circles. They have performed with the likes of British free jazz saxophonist

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Evan Parker, Dutch pianist Michiel Braam's Bik Bent Baam, Swiss saxophonist J��rg Solothurnmann and recently saxophonists

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann and

Marshall Allen

saxophone, alto
b.1924

" data-original-title="" title="">Marshall Allen. To record with these jazz giants is, indeed, a stamp of approval and hopefully their message of liberating music can be heard by a larger audience.

konstruKt & Peter Brotzmann

Dolunay

re:konstruKt

2011

Any encounter with German saxophonist Peter Br?tzmann must recognize his monumental career as a true innovator and trailblazer in the world of free music. He comes to any session not only with a discography that includes the blasting noise of Machine Gun (FMP, 1968), but also his collaborations with bassist

Bill Laswell

bass
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Laswell, guitarist

Sonny Sharrock

guitar, electric
1940 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Sharrock, pianist

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor and reed players

Ken Vandermark

saxophone
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Vandermark and

Anthony Braxton

woodwinds
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Anthony Braxton, to name just a few.

Finding him in the company of konstuKt leaves him wanting for nothing. The session ranges from some noisy bits to patches of almost ambient levitation. The title track opens with the primordial sounds of drum and percussion building into a two tenor saxophone trade-off, and only the shrewdest Br?tzmann fan will be able to differentiate the great man's playing from that of Korhan Futaci. The band builds the intensity throughout, Umut ?a?lar's guitar raising the pressure with a wash of energy. Where you might expect noise, this collaboration opts for texture and context, filling backgrounds with ambient sounds or silence. "Dolunay" ends quite peacefully.

That cannot be said of all the tracks. "Kurtlar" begins with Br?tzmann's snaking clarinet (which sounds more like his taragato) over percussion before breaking into a controlled mayhem of sound. Yes, it had to be done. Br?tzmann's long history of free jazz has always been intertwined with drummers. With konstrKt he finds a great rhythm partner. The quartet orbits around the percussive mode. Even ?a?lar's guitar sound is amplified by the percussive nature of the band. He is both the intimate picking of disheveled notes and the controlled flooding of energy jazz. His guitar and synth guitar act as a counterbalance to the acoustic horns and percussive displays.

konstuKt w/ Marshall Allen, H��seyin Ertun? and Barlas Tan ?zemek

Vibrations Of The Day

re:konstruKt

2010

It is quite another thing to match a konstruKt with a player who has traveled the spaceways like Marshall Allen. Actually, it is quite a thing indeed.

Recording with Allen, the alto saxophonist and current leader to the

Sun Ra

piano
1914 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Sun Ra Orchestra finds konstruKt adding two players. The quartet is augmented by guitarist Barlas Tan ?zemek, and drummer H��seyin Ertun?.

The music reveals the expanded ensemble and actually pairs down its sound; each musician contributing, but also cautious not to crowd the affair. Percussively-based, yet open to some very other-worldly directions, the music casts dreamy meditations.

Pairing two guitars and two percussionist acts as a constant refresh or repetition, like ocean waves messaging a shoreline. Allen and Futaci are then freed to dance, trading licks in a constant juggling of energy. The music is electronic tribal, an update on Sun Ra explorations. Where "Supernova" is all squishy flexible with bouncing notes and electronics that mimic DJ record scratching, "March Of The Aliens" is just that. The band follows along a parade route, tossing candy to the ear, Allen's extemporaneous notes squirting here and there, as are Futaci's explorations. The sound is outward bliss and it is very easy to get in line.

Tracks and Personnel

Dolunay

Tracks: Dolunay; Siyah; Kurtlar; Makinal?; Tepe; Nokta.

Personnel: Korhan Arg��den: drums; ?z��n Usta: percussion; Umut ?a?lar: guitar; Korhan Futaci: tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone; Peter Br?tzmann: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet.

Variations Of The Day

Tracks: Through The Asteroids; Space Jungle; Milky Way; March Of The Aliens; Supernova; The Emperor; Sunflower; Neptune; Spirits.

Personnel: Marshall Allen: alto saxophone; Korhan Futaci: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, voice; Umut ?a?lar: guitar, guitar synthesizer; Barlas Tan ?zemek: guitar; H��seyin Ertun?: percussion, drums, vibraphones, flute, melodica; ?z��n Usta: percussion, drums, vibraphone; Korhan Arg��den: drums.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Under A Painted Sky
< Previous

Different Tessellations
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.