Olcay Bayir
Album: Neva/Harmony
Label: Riverboat
Tracks: 9
Website: http://oclaybayir.com

Olcay Bayir's set at this year's Musicport Festival was, for me and I am sure for many others, one of the highlights of a tremendous weekend of music from across the globe. I was delighted to discover, therefore, that her début CD had just been released and lost no time in acquiring a copy for review.

Olcay, now based in London, is of Turkish - Kurdish origin but her music spans a wide range of Balkan and Mediterranean traditions as well as those of her homelands. Her quite stunning voice is perfectly complemented on the CD by a multicultural ensemble who expertly weave the sounds of the baglama (saz), clarinet, various guitars, violin, percussion and bass around those heavenly vocals.

The instrumental opening of the first track 'Jarnana' (an Albanian love song) perfectly prepares the listener for the range of emotions that are contained within the music on the CD - from the plaintive, almost tragic, to joyous hedonism. The sinuous melody of the love song from Smyrna that follows is interrupted (in a very good way!) by a fiddle and percussion break that serves to increase the intensity of the song.

The Armenian 'Mer Dan' is quite simply beautiful and demonstrates the purity of Olcay's voice on the extended phrases whilst the only non traditional track on the CD that follows, 'Benim Yarim', picks up the tempo again with driving percussion and guitar and almost frantic clarinet.

The Kurdish 'Min Bêriya Te Kiriye' and Sephardic lullaby 'Durme' provide further contrast before the epic 10 minute 'Melamet Hιrkasι' opens up a space for the contemplation whilst simultaneously admiring Nicki Maher's perfect clarinet cadenzas. 'Penceresi Yola Karsι' is a lively Balkan love song that includes the, surely international, practice of throwing stones at a lover's window to gain her (or his) attention.

Although all that has gone before is sufficient to make this recording a must have, the last track 'Lay Lay' redefines the word sublime and I cannot imagine life without the sheer pleasure of hearing it again. From the gentle understated guitar introduction the mood and essence of lullaby is perfectly established. Here Olcay's skill with the phrasing of lyrics is fully demonstrated and she proves that often the silences in music are as important as the sounds.

The outstanding musical accomplishment across the whole album is very well served indeed by the production - every instrument is well defined and the vocal is also extremely well balanced with those instruments.

A truly astounding début from someone who deserves to be very widely heard. I can also think of no better introduction to the music of these traditions for those who have yet to expand their musical horizons.

Joe Grint