Berke Can Özcan & Jonah Parzen-Johnson: It Was Always Time

In 2023, baritone saxophonist and electronics artist Jonah Parzen-Johnson performed at a benefit concert in Istanbul following a devastating earthquake that took tens of thousands of lives in Turkey and Syria. Parzen-Johnson had worked with diverse colleagues ranging from John Zorn to Pearl Jam, but each of his recordings had been a solo project. Minutes before taking to the stage in Istanbul, he met Turkish drummer Berke Can Özcan, and the two performed that evening as a duo. Inspired by the impromptu chemistry of that concert, the pair released the stirring Friendship Music for Turkey (Self Produced, 2023), a two-song EP. Parzen-Johnson hinted that a full duo album might come in the future, and it has arrived as It Was Always Time on the Finnish label We Jazz Records.

An Istanbul native, Özcan is an accomplished composer and producer, now residing in Abu Dhabi. In addition to drums, he plays vibraphone, gongs and piano. Özcan's music includes jazz, rock, ambient and experimental. He also composes film scores and scores for art exhibitions. He has recorded with Arve Henriksen, Kenny Wollesen and several other notable artists. As a leader/co-leader, Özcan has released two albums. A Chicago native and Brooklyn resident, Parzen-Johnson has ties to the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and has worked in Afrobeat ensemble music, dance theatre performances, and lo-fi settings that border on mysticism. Much of Parzen-Johnson's solo work demonstrates a remarkable ability to create enigmatic, profoundly moving music with few embellishments. Özcan wrote four of the pieces on It Was Always Time, and Parzen-Johnson the remaining three.

It Was Always Time is a global project on multiple levels; in several international settings, the artists largely improvise around some basic structures for the seven pieces. It is an expedition across soundscapes that utilize the multi-instrumental talents of Özcan and Parzen-Johnson, even while maintaining a largely minimalist feel. Only at the mid-point of "Folk Memory" does the music take a decidedly direct turn into noise. More often, the duo takes a thoughtful approach to weaving melody and complex touches, as in the brooding but insistent "Portrait of a Brick" and the poetic "That's Not What This Is." The electronics are frequently subdued and strategically situated to enhance the moody ambiance. It Was Always Time is a masterfully crafted collection, skillfully layering synthesizers and acoustics to provide a textured backdrop for languid saxophone melodies.