Taksim Trio at Womex

Back in Amsterdam, after a well-deserved holiday in the Andalucian Alpujarras, one memory from Womex still haunts me: Taksim Trio's killer performance during the last night of the festival.

Three giants from the Turkish music scene - all independently wealthy - teamed up for a labor of pure love: to rejuvenate the classical music of the Ottoman empire with new flavors.

Hüsnü Senlendirici, one of the greatest clarinet players alive, takes on a supporting role in this super-trio, gracefully leaving most of the spectacular soloing to Aytac Dogan on qanun (zither) and Ismail Tuncbilek on saz (long necked lute). Tuncbilek's treatment of the saz is unique, since the electrification of his instrument gives it the light, reverberating twang characteristic of a Fender Telecaster guitar. In the experienced hands of these great musicians the classical Ottoman idiom is transcended into an exotic and exciting chamber music for the new millennium.

When asked about the commercial potential of their collaboration during a press conference the next morning, Tuncbilek pointed out that he and his colleagues couldn't care less about that. This was something they needed to do first of all to please themselves. Let's be grateful they decided to share this music with the rest of the world as well! Their debut album as a band has just been released by DoubleMoon Records in Istanbul. Check them out at www.myspace.com/taksimtrio.