For those not in the know, Turkish-American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and New England Conservatory full-time faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol has just released his brand new recording titled THE ELECTRIC OUD MAN SPEAKS and you listen..., a five-track project centered on his custom semi-hollow electric oud — an instrument he first envisioned more than 20 years ago and only recently had the means to realize.

The album features a close, long-standing working group: Mark Tipton (trumpet, flugelhorn), Edmar Colón (saxophone), James Heazlewood-Dale (bass), and George Lernis (drums).

The project originates in a problem Sanlıkol encountered early: the acoustic oud could not properly function inside a modern jazz rhythm section. In his initial attempts, it fed back, disappeared in volume, and collapsed the moment the drums asserted themselves.

If the oud was to hold its own in a contemporary ensemble, it needed a transformation similar to what the guitar underwent in the early 20th century — magnetic pickups, steel strings, and a redesigned body capable of handling volume and dynamic range.

Working with an American guitarist and oud enthusiast, Mac Ritchey, Sanlıkol developed a semi-hollow electric oud that travels well, stays in tune, and can withstand the physicality of a jazz-fusion band.

1. Pickin’ A Shuffle Alla Turca [06:08]
2. Another Dream In Nihavend [10:39]
3. Talk About A Turkish Blues [07:20]
4. A Poignant Truth [03:58]
5. No Big Deal [04:35]

On a recording where Sanlıkol admits the project distills the musical languages he has lived with since childhood, he opens on the Turkishly-melodic, bluegrass-imbibed, low slung blues-fueled Pickin’ A Shuffle Alla Turca and then we get gifted the atmospherically-charged electric oud sculpted Another Dream In Nihavend, the melodiously guitar-driven, blues-hued brilliance of Talk About A Turkish Blues, the new set rounding out on the contrastingly layered, emotively chorded balladry, fretless electric oud cut A Poignant Truth, coming to an all-too-soon close on the funkalicious rhythms and percussional notes that drive my own favorite track, No Big Deal.

Musicians/Instruments:
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, electric oud, vocoder, Renaissance 17
Mark Tipton, trumpet, flugelhorn
Edmar Colon, tenor saxophone
James Heazlewood-Dale, electric bass
George Lernis, drums

“Pickin’ A Shuffle Alla Turca” [Official Video]

www.sanlikol.com

www.dunyainc.org