Baykus Music
Gevende : ev (TÜ,2006)****'
Since Gevende’s great demo which did not elicit much interest, a lot has happened since then. Late summer 2006 the whole band prepared for a travel to Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal, together with 2 video-cameramen, 1 photographer and 2 guides to record a video and some audio on its way. This resulted in a documentary movie called "Gevende On the Roof", which is now almost completed. They played with lots of local musicians and of course recorded as well. They also attended special Sufi Nights in Pakistan-Lahor, and also liked a lot Nepal-Pokhora and its beautiful nature. (some photographs you can find on their blog page).
It seemed to me at first that the band for this release was engaged by the many colourful images and rich experiences, because their first officially released recording is overloaded with ideas, which are arranged with compactness perfectionism, and professionalism. It almost give a feeling of something of the richness of the world, and this in a relaxed form, but in reality it was nothing else but the open vision and preparation on their own personal journey that led to these tracks.
Gevende nowadays is Ahmet Kenan Bilgiç : vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, e-bow ; Ömer ÖztÜyen : viola, backing vocals ; Okan Kaya : bass Guitar, oud, cumbus, melodika, bass guitar, backing vocals ; Can Ömer Uygan : trumpet, backing vocals ; Gökçe Gürçay : drums, tencere, tava, damacana, backing vocals, with guests Arda Yigit Bulut : ?; Cenk Erdogan : ? guitar ; Cetin Erlik : ?; Gülsah Erol : cello ; Izzet Kizil : ?; Murat Ferhat Yegül : trombone, ney ; Pin Rada : didgeridoo ; Serdar Pazarcioglu : ? ; Sinan Sakizli : alt & soprano sax, acoustic guitar.
Other guests on live recordings include, except for Gülsah Erol : cello, Ahmet Çagğan : drums, Ezgi N. Kuran : cello, Ç.Firat Yesillik : cello, Gizem Gürkan : piano, Olcay saral : piano, Sabri Çapanoglu : tanbur, Izzet Kizil : percussion, Serbay Yildiz : electric baglama, Özkan Imren : flute, buzuki ; Orhan Osman : buzuki, sitar, Murat Ertel : vocals, electric baglama.
The first track, “Celik Comak” has something African in the first vocals, and seems like having a Turkish rock band playing mixed in with a Balkan brass ensemble, with a small part somewhere with Indian rhythm-vocals on Turkish percussion as if it’s tabla. This kind of Balkan/Turkish feeling can also be noticed in the next track, “Refik” as well, while rhythms and melody could be from somewhere else (where??), presenting a happy progressive world fusion rock form, with hints to jazz, Indian music, and those elements I do not recognise immediately from which origins they come from. “Nem” is a strong well composed track I know from their demo. It is very classically inspired and composed “progressive” rock with a subtle arrangement. It evolves into an improvisation with the Turkish ney flute that leads this improvisation, and then some violin does a splendid composition. This is followed by a few more tracks which I also knew from their demo. “Okyanus Dügünü” from the next two, is similarly classically gifted in style, with an improvisation on a rather classical composition, performed by a small chamber orchestra, with trumpet and electric guitar and bass. “Nayu” is a beautiful and comprehensive, slightly melancholic song, with varied improvised arrangements. “Anonim” is a Middle Eastern traditional, arranged by the band starting with very beautiful and thoughtful, well arranged vocal harmonies. Then the band improvises on it in an acidic fusing folkrock way, with a rock band fundament with additional trumpet and trombone. “Gözagri” (which I also know from the demo) proves once more the gift of the composer o use best the complexity of classical music composition. Just like a classical composition, it has different sections and this with a spontaneously changing rhythm according to the theme being used, from a jazzy song improvisation, with a rhythmically calmer layer of chamber-jazz rock arrangement to it, over a Turkish way of complex chamber music rock, to a more bluesy jazz improvisation. With the same qualities, “Sermest” starts with RIO-like arrangements of complex rhythms, then changes into weird vocal lead arrangements, over a more odd rock structure, with further sections of jazzrock kind of organ improvisation, a didgeridoo part with trumpet and bass, and some complex Indian-like violin improvisation with tabla, over to a complex Fusion rock repeating the mode of the earlier started complex rhythms. Wow ! Last track “Seker” is a more relaxed track, lead by a classical guitar improvisation (with second guitar and bass) accompanied with harmonica and tabla, while a child voice starts to tell a whole little story (with a bit of school children noise coming in on the background), and a bit flute, until the child laughs joyfully and the CD, in a relaxed mode, just like the travels of Gevende might have brought, leaves you with nothing but good memories.
This is one of the most successful and most perfect Turkish release I've heard from the last few years.
