BE-ING by Burak Bedikyan
LINER NOTES:
Burak Bedikyan’s many gifts as a pianist, improvisor and composer shine particularly brightly on his solo piano album “Being”, comprised completely of fully improvised pieces. Burak’s training as a classical and a jazz pianist and his obvious interest in a wide range of musical styles, from the broad history of jazz piano to the far broader palette of music composed for the piano since the Baroque era, informs his musical language.
His control of the sound of the piano dynamically, in the breadth of tone color and articulation, in the clarity of his voicings and the differentiation of his linear material heightens the beauty of his spontaneous compositions. Ebullient swing, sometimes just for a few moments, sometimes for complete pieces, characterizes his overall time feel in the jazz realm. The flow between rubato and clear grooving time playing is fascinating to experience; the perennially mysterious “time no time” approach plays a large role in Burak’s expressive world. Sinuous lines sneaking around layers of harmony in all registers leave the listener always wanting to know what’s around the corner, and the predominantly short pieces serve to whet the appetite for the next one.
I find Burak’s mix of lively, rhythmically compelling comping in the left hand supporting the exploding melodies his right hand seems to effortlessly find with a more classical music sensibility of counterpoint and multiple melodic voices interspersed with chordal harmony to be continually fresh, exciting and appropriate for the wide range of material he serves us. Interludes of diatonic jazz melodies and chords that seem like a song I can’t quite remember shift to marvelously textured passages fully outside of any tonal center that flow together like streams gathering into a river, carrying me effortlessly to the seas of his profound imagination.
Not only is his music damned clever, his titles, like “The Past has Passed”, intrigue with their philosophical leanings, reflecting Burak’s approach to life as a quest for knowledge and peace, a never-ending search for inspiration from the many realms of human existence, and, ultimately, to the artistic goal of expressing himself through sound, which he has so richly achieved in this beautiful collection of musings.
ANDY MIDDLETON
September 14, 2022
Vienna, Austria
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Born in Istanbul, NY|NJ based pianist Burak Bedikyan is a prolific composer as a leader of his own projects and a highly sought after sideman for a variety of American and European Jazz artists thanks to his originality and stylistic versatility.
Releasing seven critically acclaimed albums and touring worldwide with his bands made his work recognized internationally.