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Jazz Articles about George Lernis
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol: Turkish Hipster: Tales From Swing To Psychedelic
by Jack Bowers
Those who believe the term Turkish Hipster has to be an oxymoron should get to know composer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, a Turk whose seventh album, subtitled Tales from Swing to Psychedelic," is about as hip as can be. Sanlikol knows where is going but chooses to get there in his own special way, using every weapon in his musical arsenal to create vivid sound pictures whose jazz components rest solidly within a Middle Eastern framework that set them apart from ...
read moreThe George Lernis Jazz Quartet: Shapes Of Nature
by Dan Bilawsky
The lower portion of the tree that adorns the cover of George Lernis' Shapes Of Nature can be viewed as a metaphor for the Cyprus-born/Boston-based drummer's music. The seven compositions that make up this recording have firm roots in the rich soil of jazz tradition, but as they grow, they branch out in unexpected ways, just as the tree grows beyond the cover. While man and nature each build things in far different manners, both demonstrate a certain logic in ...
read moreThe George Lernis Jazz Quartet: Shapes of Nature
by Greg Simmons
Many people recall the tedium of childhood music lessons: the endless scales; impatient instructors; and the drudgery of practice, practice, practice. A few gifted individuals get to move on to bigger and better things, but the vast majority face a conspiracy of limited talent and the distraction of competing interests. Fortunately, those who do possess the requisite talent and perseverance can reach higher plateaus, and occasionally, create something truly interesting and original in the service of their own musical growth, ...
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