Brought to our attention by our digger friend Koray K. aka Grup Ses this recording by the late Don Cherry is spectacular in many ways. Recorded in 1969 and originally released on Sonet“Live in Ankara” displays the free jazz mammoth’s adventures in the Turkish capital Ankara, which surprisingly is a barren place for anything musical, let alone jazz. No wonder it was recorded in the US Embassy!

This endevaour was most probably facilitated by the Turkish drummer/percussionist extraordinaire Okay Temiz who was also featured on Don Cherry’s Orient LP and his work with Oriental Wind was pretty influential in those days. Live in Ankara has 15 pieces in total but the short 5 song medley in the middle composed of Turkish folk material is particularly amazing. Don’t mix the sequence of the songs below for continuous play.

Live Ankara captures a 1969 concert at the American embassy in Turkey, where Cherry performs with an entirely Turkish rhythm section. The repertoire balances original Cherry themes (plus a few covers) with Turkish folk melodies arranged by Turkish jazz trumpeter Maffy Falay. Nothing is really explored for too long; the music is played as two continuous suites, and they usually shift to new material fairly quickly. The ensemble has a pretty sparse sound, with Cherry the sole lead voice for much of the concert. All of this serves to emphasize the melodicism of Cherry’s playing here, and the Turkish material sits pretty comfortably alongside the jazz compositions.