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My first meeting with Ihsan
Özgen was in November 1998 in Montreal. I still remember the
excitement of greeting him at the airport. By then, I had long known and
been enchanted by Özgen's music. His recordings of classical music
as well as his work with experimental musicians were strong inducements
to both know the man better and to work with him. He emerged from behind
sliding doors with his kemenche case, smiling at me as if we have known
each other for many years. Our initial meeting marked the beginning of
an association in which I hoped I would be able to present many sides
of this master musician's music.
That November, Íhsan Özgen, Mercan Dede and
I spent a week traveling around Eastern Canada in a car. I did not want
to reach our destinations, just drive, converse and listen to music. We
had many conversations covering many topics, naturally music was the most
prominent. When spending time with a master musician, each and every moment
becomes an experience in learning, in gaining a deeper understanding of
music and people. Appreciation for music expands, not just for the music
of Özgen or a particular genre, but for all music. For example, Özgen
is very fond of western classical music, especially of Bach. Or when Özgen
talks about his peers and his teachers, he introduces you to generations
of music makers and your technical understanding of music and composers
is enhanced. One of the great aspects of Özgen's character is his
dedication to teaching. As such, if you ask him a question, you will always
get a full and clear answer. He senses the root of your question and his
answer seeks to fulfill your curiosity.
In many ways, this is an unusual recording. To begin
with, this album is totally dedicated to Özgen's kemenche playing
though Mercan Dede plays percussion on a few tracks to provide a base
for Özgen's playing. This album was recorded without any preparations
- we simply and spontaneously recorded Özgen in studio, aiming to
capture the essence of the kemenche. None of the pieces were rehearsed,
all are first takes. There was no list of pieces to play, Özgen simply
played what came to mind. The pieces were spontaneously selected, instantaneously
remembered, by Özgen. He played these pieces by Ottoman composers
as if he was trying to recall how they were composed. This characteristic
of the recordings led to the title of the album, "Remembrances of Ottoman
Composers". At that moment, all I wanted was to collect and capture Íhsan
Özgen's kemenche playing. The idea of turning this into a finished
recording only arose towards the end of the sessions. Now, we have an
album where a  person
interested in kemenche can hear the best practitioner of it alive today.
Another unique aspect of this recording is that when
Özgen plays compositions, he does not play them in full. Instead
he ties them in with his improvisations and adds to these compositions
from his own. Íhsan Özgen has been playing traditional music
for several decades. Over the years, he played this music in its traditional
format as complete full length compositions with taksims in-between which
are based on the specific makams of the pieces involved. As an artist
who is constantly searching and experimenting, his performances have become
freer in their nature. He takes a piece where ever his emotions lead him,
taking risks to add to the music and to bring in fresh concepts and new
ways of playing. His is a search to find a musical language to make us
feel, to enjoy, and to better understand this music. He reaches out to
us, and as a listener we have to become actively involved in the music
to truly appreciate it. Without this, one is missing music's very essence.
"Remembrances of Ottoman Composers" features Mercan Dede playing percussion
on several tracks. Bendir is no stranger to traditional music, however
I know of no other recording where an udu drum has been used in such a
context. Íhsan Özgen first saw this instrument in the studio
in Montreal. When Mercan Dede picked it up and played it for a few minutes,
it was clear that Özgen was intrigued and he asked Mercan Dede to
play on some of the pieces. This album also includes the bash taksim (opening
improvisation) from a concert in Boston on November 21st, 1998. I recall
listening to the recording for the first time in the car on a road between
Toronto and Ottawa with Íhsan Özgen, Fred Stubbs and Mercan
Dede. After listening to the bash taksim intently and quietly, Özgen
simply said, "this is a very good taksim". And so, we have included this
beautiful taksim as part of this collection of studio recordings.
Ates M. Temeltas
Review
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