HAZAR - Reincarnated
IAN Productions LC 84945
Hazar (acoustic guitar); Al Di Meola (guitar track 2); Piotr Torunski (bass clarinet); Mike Roelofs (piano); Mehmet Katay (percussion).
Recorded Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg 14-15 January 2020, except track 2, recorded MSM Studio Group, Munich (no recording date).
Ulas Hazar’s first instrument is the saz, a three-stringed long-necked lute, but in 2015, John McLaughlin suggested that he switch to guitar to showcase more of his skills. This conversation, coupled with the fact that Hazar felt he had nothing new to say on the saz, saw him taking up the guitar in 2018. What is remarkable is that for six months in 2019, he couldn’t play guitar due to a heart condition. In short, he hasn’t being playing the guitar for very long, yet it’s clear listening to this album that Hazar is a guitar virtuoso. But more than that, one that plays with passion, feeling and spirit.
Before commenting more on the music, I should mention the album packaging. His record label has clearly pushed the boat out in this department, because the CD comes in a lovely double fold-out digipak, complete with a 22-page colour booklet that includes photos, liner notes, recording information and lots of details about music files. The last might seem odd on a jazz CD, but there is a reason for it: this release comes with a second disc which offers the album in various audio formats.
If you’re not interested in the technical aspects of music, you might want to skip the following few paragraphs, but if you’re an audiophile or simply someone interested in getting the best possible sound experience from the music, you might wish to continue. Reincarnated comes with a Blu-ray disc. Most of us associate Blu-ray with high quality video movies, but the format is also used to carry high quality audio.
The Blu-ray disc on this release does include a number of high definition videos – there are videos featuring Hazar playing three tracks from the album: Made For Wesley, Bossa Dorado and For Sephora. These mostly consist of tight, close-up shots of Hazar’s plectrum striking the guitar strings or his fingers running along the fretboard. It certainly looks impressive, but unless you’re planning to learn how to play these tunes on acoustic guitar (and good luck to you, if you do), you probably won’t watch the videos more than a couple of times. There are also two short videos on the making of the album, shot during the sessions.
Last but not least are the alternative music formats, most of them designed to give listeners a more immersive experience. There is two-channel 96kHz/24-bit PCM audio which plays on all Blu-ray players (for comparison, CDs use 44.1Khz/16-bit audio). There are also several multi-channel audio formats, namely 5.1 DTS HD; 7.1.4 Auro-3D and Dolby Atmos. Note that in order to listen to these formats in their full glory, you’ll need to appropriate audio decoder and speaker set-up. And if your Blu-ray player is connected to your home network, you can transfer high quality audio files to your PC, including one offering binaural stereo for headphone listeners.
Now, back to the music on the CD. There are nine tracks, all of them covers. The opening number, Made for Wesley, is a mid-tempo Brazilian number, highlighting Hazar’s prowess on guitar, with fast picking and subtle string bending. It also demonstrates the colours and textures added to the music by percussionist Mehmet Katay, something he repeats on most other tracks. The second track, Chick Corea’s lively number, Spain, sees Hazar joined by Al Di Meola, who plays both acoustic guitar and percussion (and also did the arrangement). The interplay between the two guitarists is glorious, especially when they intertwine to play the main hook.
The jazz/bossa-nova Bossa Dorado features more energetic guitar, while the tempo slows for the gorgeous eight-minute Black Orpheus, which includes a fine piano solo from Mike Roelofs and dark brooding lines on the bass clarinet by Mehmet Katay. In fact, the bass clarinet is used to good effect on the whole album, sometimes doubling up the guitar lines; other times adding fine textures to the sound as on another lovely number, For Sephora.
George Gershwin’s Summertime has been covered by countless jazz artists and Hazar’s version includes an atmospheric piano intro; morse code-like percussive sounds and call-and-response between guitar and bass clarinet. Charlie Parker’s Donna Lee sees both piano and guitar playing the lighting-fast changes. The closing number, Le Vieux Tzigane, features solo guitar. This is a splendid album, but I hope that on the next one, we’ll get to hear some of Hazar’s original compositions. Oh, and I’d love to hear a whole album of him and Al Di Meola playing together.
Reviewed by George Cole
IAN Productions LC 84945
Hazar (acoustic guitar); Al Di Meola (guitar track 2); Piotr Torunski (bass clarinet); Mike Roelofs (piano); Mehmet Katay (percussion).
Recorded Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg 14-15 January 2020, except track 2, recorded MSM Studio Group, Munich (no recording date).
Ulas Hazar’s first instrument is the saz, a three-stringed long-necked lute, but in 2015, John McLaughlin suggested that he switch to guitar to showcase more of his skills. This conversation, coupled with the fact that Hazar felt he had nothing new to say on the saz, saw him taking up the guitar in 2018. What is remarkable is that for six months in 2019, he couldn’t play guitar due to a heart condition. In short, he hasn’t being playing the guitar for very long, yet it’s clear listening to this album that Hazar is a guitar virtuoso. But more than that, one that plays with passion, feeling and spirit.
Before commenting more on the music, I should mention the album packaging. His record label has clearly pushed the boat out in this department, because the CD comes in a lovely double fold-out digipak, complete with a 22-page colour booklet that includes photos, liner notes, recording information and lots of details about music files. The last might seem odd on a jazz CD, but there is a reason for it: this release comes with a second disc which offers the album in various audio formats.
If you’re not interested in the technical aspects of music, you might want to skip the following few paragraphs, but if you’re an audiophile or simply someone interested in getting the best possible sound experience from the music, you might wish to continue. Reincarnated comes with a Blu-ray disc. Most of us associate Blu-ray with high quality video movies, but the format is also used to carry high quality audio.
The Blu-ray disc on this release does include a number of high definition videos – there are videos featuring Hazar playing three tracks from the album: Made For Wesley, Bossa Dorado and For Sephora. These mostly consist of tight, close-up shots of Hazar’s plectrum striking the guitar strings or his fingers running along the fretboard. It certainly looks impressive, but unless you’re planning to learn how to play these tunes on acoustic guitar (and good luck to you, if you do), you probably won’t watch the videos more than a couple of times. There are also two short videos on the making of the album, shot during the sessions.
Last but not least are the alternative music formats, most of them designed to give listeners a more immersive experience. There is two-channel 96kHz/24-bit PCM audio which plays on all Blu-ray players (for comparison, CDs use 44.1Khz/16-bit audio). There are also several multi-channel audio formats, namely 5.1 DTS HD; 7.1.4 Auro-3D and Dolby Atmos. Note that in order to listen to these formats in their full glory, you’ll need to appropriate audio decoder and speaker set-up. And if your Blu-ray player is connected to your home network, you can transfer high quality audio files to your PC, including one offering binaural stereo for headphone listeners.
Now, back to the music on the CD. There are nine tracks, all of them covers. The opening number, Made for Wesley, is a mid-tempo Brazilian number, highlighting Hazar’s prowess on guitar, with fast picking and subtle string bending. It also demonstrates the colours and textures added to the music by percussionist Mehmet Katay, something he repeats on most other tracks. The second track, Chick Corea’s lively number, Spain, sees Hazar joined by Al Di Meola, who plays both acoustic guitar and percussion (and also did the arrangement). The interplay between the two guitarists is glorious, especially when they intertwine to play the main hook.
The jazz/bossa-nova Bossa Dorado features more energetic guitar, while the tempo slows for the gorgeous eight-minute Black Orpheus, which includes a fine piano solo from Mike Roelofs and dark brooding lines on the bass clarinet by Mehmet Katay. In fact, the bass clarinet is used to good effect on the whole album, sometimes doubling up the guitar lines; other times adding fine textures to the sound as on another lovely number, For Sephora.
George Gershwin’s Summertime has been covered by countless jazz artists and Hazar’s version includes an atmospheric piano intro; morse code-like percussive sounds and call-and-response between guitar and bass clarinet. Charlie Parker’s Donna Lee sees both piano and guitar playing the lighting-fast changes. The closing number, Le Vieux Tzigane, features solo guitar. This is a splendid album, but I hope that on the next one, we’ll get to hear some of Hazar’s original compositions. Oh, and I’d love to hear a whole album of him and Al Di Meola playing together.
Reviewed by George Cole
