- The Guardian, Friday August 4 2006
This 10-track CD is a kind of concept album based around Istanbul's celebrated Kapali Carsi - the grand bazaar of the title. Led by percussionist and composer Ocal, the six-piece Ensemble produce a full-bodied sequence of rhythmic instrumentals, led by Volkan Gumuslu's violin and Savas Zurnaci's clarinet. Propulsive, up-tempo numbers such as Rakkase [The Belly Dancer] and Pasa Selim, loosely based on a theme from Mozart's Abduction From the Seraglio, are treats.
Young kanun player Mehmed Celiksu makes a guest appearance - his recording debut - on Kanun-Name, but after 12 minutes of his solo improvisation, the band are ready to ease back in with the serpentine Roxelanin Sesi [Roxelana's Cry], a portrait of Sultan's Suleiman I's wife and former concubine, which features a much-augmented Ensemble. The suite ends in a more low-key manner, with a subtle but tense tone poem for kanun (Celiksu) and darbuka (Ocal).
