Gülün / Allulli / de Raymondi
Kapı

EvArt Arte ed Eventi (2016)

Selen Gülün (p, synthesizer, vo)
Marcello Allulli (ts)
Emanuele De Raymondi (g, electronics)

1. Lausanne
2. Passacaglia
3. 4MC
4. Kapi
5. Clocks
6. Ande
7. Improbeat
8. Not Afraid

I have been closely following Selen Gülün and her work since her first album “Just About Jazz – Live”, followed by the release of her first trio album “Sürprizler”. I wrote her a letter (and of course ended up carrying it in my bag, never to send it to her) about the Tezer Özlü-esque piece called “Pia” from this album. Writing about an album that involves Selen Gülün has been a dream ever since I started writing for jazzdergisi.com, and my wish came true with this article.

It isn’t easy trying to guess how 2013 went for everyone, but “prolific” is the perfect word to describe how Selen Gülün’s went. Selen, who aims to achieve something better with every new album, was working on recording “Başka” album for Kabak & Lin when she also met with her friends Marcello Allulli and Emanuele De Raymondi, who she has been working with for a long time, in Italy in order to take baby steps into recording their album together. I think Selen Gülün felt at ease with this project because she has worked individually with both Marcello and Emanuele before, and this joint-project means “a step further” for her in a sense that they all speak the same musical language.

Selen Gülün (Photo: internet/unknown)

After rough brainstorming sessions, bruised elbows, in-depth discussions, countless espressos, many cannoli the notes written and then rewritten and memorised through internalisation were recorded at Bilgi University’s music studios in February 2015. In the meanwhile Selen shared the news concerning the album on social media and planted the seeds of an enthusiastic wait for us. We had to wait for a while to experience this album that was released in Italy in November 2016 by the Italian record label “EvArt Arte ed Eventi”, but I think “Lausanne” and “Passacaglia”, perfect to listen to on a dark grey Saturday with a whiskey or good quality cognac in hand, were really worth all the wait. I think “4MC”, “Kapı” and “Ande” are likely to become talk of the town and make the album get widespread recognition.

Marcello Allulli (Photo: E.Dele – Soriansky Studio)

Allulli’s strong tenor vocals goes hand-in-hand with De Raymondi’s guitar playing that is as sharp as a knife in this album filled with electric-acoustic improvizations. One of my favorite aspects of this album is that it helped me during the process of getting over my prejudice that “jazz should only be acoustic, electric sounds shouldn’t be involved at all”.

“Kapı” is a successful album that should be listened by everyone who wants to live through an experience where there are no worries about time, place or anything of sorts, where life’s sadnesses and hopes go hand-in-hand, in which rain and sunshine both touch the windows. Selen Gülün, Marcello Allulli and Emanuele De Raymondi handed the keys of this album to digital platforms in February for all the jazz lovers to enjoy. A little more patience is needed for the CD version, though.

Emanuele De Raymondi (Photo: internet/unknown)

In the meanwhile here are some fresh news: I don’t know about our Italian friends but Selen Gülün will be reporting to us from Japan for a while. However; this doesn’t constitute as a reason not to follow the band’s music and the musicians’ personal projects, as well as getting excited about waiting to see them in Turkey.

Source: Jazz Dergisi