Volkan Kaplan is a Turkish, Istanbul-based (Anatolian) bağlama and (Azerbaijani) tar player and vocalist, educator, sound engineer, and producer, who comes from Tokat city in Turkey, located in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. The Anatolian and Caspian Suites is his collaboration with the Dutch chamber jazz meets world music Rembrandt Frerichs Trio – pianist and harmonium player Rembrandt Frerichs, double bass and violone player Tony Overwater, and drummer-percussionist Vinsent Planjer. This trio collaborated before with Iranian masters Kayhan Kalhor and Hossein Alizadeh.
The album finds acoustic meeting points between traditional, ancient Turkish and Azerbaijani folk-rooted melodies, shaped by the centuries-old cultural landscapes surrounding Anatolia. Caucasus, and the Caspian Sea, and the free spirit of jazz-informed, contemporary harmonies and spontaneous improvisation. This ad hoc quartet transform the timeless, folk melodies through original compositions, individual and collective improvisation, and reimagined modal structures. The album was recorded at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, Netherlands.
The Anatolian and Caspian Suites is a peaceful, uplifting and deeply collaborative musical journey that bridges the wild waves of the Black Sea and the pulse of the Horon folk dances from the Eastern Black Sea Region in Turkey. Kapan and Rembrandt Frerichs Trio interpret these old melodies as part of a vivid, ever-regenerating musical legacy, open and enriched by new ideas and innovations. The centrepieces are the two-part «Black Sea», reflecting the work of Talip Özkan (1939-2010), Turkish tanbur player and compiler of folk songs, Talip Özkan (1939-2010), and the three-part «Charbagh», after the Persian quadrilateral garden, separated by waterways, and representing the four gardens and four rivers of Paradise mentioned in the Quran. The whole album highlights the open, versatile musical vision of the four musicians.
This beautiful, rich music reminds us that quite often different cultures and distant geographies share the same sky, enjoy similar stories, dances, and rituals, and experience the same curiosity about the future. The Anatolian and Caspian Suites suggests a desire for diverse traditions, memories, and sonic worlds to converge within a shared narrative, not obstructed by archaic and outdated beliefs.
Eyal Hareuveni
Volkan Kaplan (bağlama, tar, vocals), Rembrandt Frerichs (piano, harmonium), Tony Overwater (double bass, violone), Vinsent Planjer (drums, percussion)
