Discography
Album Name: ACILI PİZZA (meaning HOT PIZZA)
Artist: Mustafa Avşar
Release Date: 11/05/2018
Label: KALAN/Z Music
[featuring Eylem Pelit, Volkan Öktem and Şenova Ülker]
In his first jazz album work, Mustafa Avşar, who has taken Western Classical Music education does actually not have any education regarding jazz music. Except for his first composition “Acılı Pizza”(meaning “Hot Pizza”) which has also named the album, he has learned all the other pieces by listening and transcribing. Some of the jazz solos in the album belong to great masters such as Keith Jarrett, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Otmaro Ruiz, Michel Petrucciani and Hermeto Pascoal. Although these solos that have been engraved in his ears by listening with pleasure belong to others, he feels enormous indulgence of being able to imitate these jazz masters (their solos) just like the way he enjoys interpreting Mozart’s sheet sonatas and reinterprets them also with his own musical arrangements in this album.
He associates this CD that he made the music directing and arranging of to a mixed and generous topping hot pizza for it having different styles and genres in it. Besides himself on the piano/rhodes/keys, there are names like Eylem Pelit on the bass guitar, Volkan Öktem on the drums and Şenova Ülker on the trumpet/flugelhorn participating in this project.
The pieces in this CD are Mixed by Mehmet Uğur Memiş. The one who is doing the Mastering is musician, composer, sound engineer and producer George Whitty having multiple winner of Grammy Awards and Emmy Award – Best Composer has made the evaluation “Every now and then in my travels I hear a striking new voice on piano that makes me want to listen again immediately. Mustafa Avşar is such a voice; a great touch on piano and a completely fresh approach to harmony in his soloing that to me is the essence of good jazz, something NEW and UNIQUE! Great playing by everybody on this CD, and as always a reminder of the possibilities when jazz meets the world’s music!” for Mustafa Avşar.
