Don Cherry - Music For Turkish Theater 1970

CAZ PLAK

£30.60

Format: Vinyl Gatefold LP, OBI, Liner Notes
Catalogue No.: CAZLP009
Release Date: 20 Sep 2024
Genre: Jazz, Free Jazz

A1 - Calculating Empires
A2 - Okay's 5/8
A3 - Fortune and Men's Eyes
A4 - 1969 - Take 1
B1 - 1969
B2 - Near East / Far East
B3 - Naive - Take 1
B4 - Naive
B5 - İstanbul
NEVER-BEFORE-RELEASED RECORDING of the Sensational and Banned Turkish Theater Play by James Baldwin and Engin Cezzar, Istanbul 1970
Licensed by Gökhan Akçura, author of Engin Cezzar's autobiography, who was personally entrusted with the original master tape by Engin Cezzar.

"One of the most shocking and daring plays staged in Turkish theaters was banned by the Istanbul Governorship on February 7, 1970. The ban on the play, which was watched by 30,000 people in 60 days, did not last long." - Turkish Press, 1970

Meticulously restored from the original master tape, remastered and cut by Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering, Bristol, UK.
Includes liner notes by Zeynep Oral (James Baldwin's assistant and journalist), Gökhan Akçura, Okay Temiz, and record producer Erinç Güzel (Caz Plak İstanbul).

In 1970, Turkish theater owner Engin Cezzar produced James Baldwin's groundbreaking play about gay relationships in a 1970s Istanbul prison setting. In 1969, jazz musician Don Cherry, visiting Istanbul with Okay Temiz to record an album, reunited with Baldwin and contributed music to the production. The recording session followed extensive discussions and featured performances by Cherry and Temiz, heightening the play's tension.

An unearthed free jazz masterpiece from 1970s Istanbul.