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Konstrukt: L.O.T.U.S.
ByTheir next stop, and it appears to be a regular terminal now, is London's Café Oto. The band released the 2015 concert Live At Café Oto (Holidays Records, 2017) with Alexander Hawkins. The pianist is back for this live date, along with saxophonist Alan Wilkerson, and Daniel Spicer. Although Konstrukt invited these luminaries of the UK's free jazz scene, the music gravitates very much towards the Continent and American fire music.
Let's call them the 21st century equivalent to the Art Ensemble of Chicago. From the opening notes, Hawkins pinging the insides of his piano, the ensemble initiates a percussive panoply with an insistent pulse that travels from Eastern vibes to drum'n'bass and funk. These are cultural marauders in the best sense. Pulling jazz passages from chaos, and exhibiting free improvised quotations over orderliness. Hawkins, Williamson, and Spicer are eager participants here. Their Turkish brothers know the language. It's their accents that make the Brits conscious of the structures. Where Brötzmann introduced us to the Tárogató, Futacı sets aside his saxophones here for the double reed gralla and zurna, and Çağlar also hoists a gralla and various flutes. It's not quite befitting to say "East-meets-West" because with Konstrukt, East has been absorbing Western free jazz for the past fifty years and they're now coming to the table with the freshest and tastiest ingredients.
L.O.T.U.S. is released as a limited edition, 300 copies gatefold double-LP, 200 CDs, or as a download from Otoroku.
Track Listing
Side A: Free-flowing; Ararat; Side B: Konfrontations; Rumi; Domino; Side C: Bahia; Far Side Of The Mountain; Bits And Pieces; Side D: Ancestors´ Song; Exit; White Lotus.
Personnel
Konstrukt
variousKorhan Futacı: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flutes, sipsi, kaba zurna, voice; Alan Wilkinson; baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, voice; Ediz Hafızoğlu; drums, cymbals, bells, turkish hang drum; Barlas Tan Özemek: electric bass; Umut Çağlar: electric guitar, gralla, bamboo flutes, pocket drum machine, xylophones, percussion, tape echo; Alexander Hawkins: acoustic piano; Daniel Spicer: pocket trumpet, bugle, bamboo saxophone, shenai, recorder, pan pipe, whistle, cow bell, kalimba, voice.
Album information
Title: L.O.T.U.S. | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Omlott