As a pianist, Fazil Say has effectively straddled the worlds of classical music and jazz with successful releases of music by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Ravel, and Bartók under his belt, as well as frequent appearances at major international jazz festivals. As a composer, Say has had numerous performances and commissions by prestigious orchestras to establish his credibility in the classical world, but the character and style of his own music is far more slanted to jazz than classical. He cites Bartók and Stravinsky as significant influences, and it's easy to hear that in his fluency with modern techniques, but the sound of the music itself is often closer to Art Tatum (or Turkish and Middle Eastern folk traditions and popular song) than to the classical side. The piano solos like Black Earth and Paganini Variations and the chamber pieces like the Sonata for violin and piano and Dervish in Manhattan have a fluidity that makes them sound like the transcriptions of improvisations. Say puts a distinctive spin on most of the pieces by using avant-garde techniques such as playing inside the piano and preparing the piano strings. His intent doesn't seem to be avant-garde, though; the effects persuasively broaden the timbres of the piano, often so that it can approximate the sound of traditional folk instruments. The larger scale works, Concerto No. 2, "Silk Road," and Pieces for Piano and Orchestra, are colorful, attractive pieces that frequently have a Middle Eastern flavor.
Paganini Variations is an unabashedly jazzy virtuoso piano solo, and Dervish in Manhattan for piano, bass, drums, and ney, a traditional Turkish wind instrument, brings the jazz and Turkish influences together. Say can be heard humming at a very low level on many of the tracks, and his vocalisms create a subtle additional textural layer and seem very much a part of the music rather than a distraction.
The music is undeniably modern, but Say's appealing and inventive incorporation of jazz and folk traditions make this an album that should be attractive even to listeners who are not generally fans of new music, and it should certainly interest fans of classical/jazz crossover. Naïve's sound is clean and warmly intimate. The album comes with a bonus DVD of Say performing Black Earth, Paganini Variations, Summertime Fantasy, and Alla Turca Jazz, from a 2006 recital in Japan.