Necdet Yasar plays the Turkish lute known as tanbur, an instrument that has for centuries been at the heart of the classical tradition. Like the ney and the kemençe, it is one of those instruments you can fall in love with - its huge, sonorous tones seem to speak directly to the soul, and it is no accident that the tanbur is associated with the spiritual aspects of Turkish music. The instrument has a large, round body and an extremely long neck, making sight-reading and very fast playing difficult. These physical dimensions, then, underline two important aspects of Turkish art music - the importance of memorising repertoire and the fact that well-formed, imaginative phrasing is of higher value than more predictable manifestations of virtuosity. Yasar, who was born in 1930, belongs to a musical lineage going back to at least Tanburi Cemil Bey and whose youngest representative is Murat Aydemir; he is to the tanbur what Ihsan Özgen is to the kemençe, and the two musicians have produced some classic work together, especially with the earlier formations of the Vosporos ensemble. Yasar's technical mastery is absolute, in particular his use of the range of plectrum techniques that is at the heart of tanbur playing. However, as a musician, what most distinguishes him is his unparalleled knowledge of and insight into the Turkish classical repertoire and the improvisational possibilities presented by its modal system. Yasar is one of those few artists who are both guided by and themselves guide tradition.This CD features interpretations of compositions stretching from the 16th century (Gazi Giray Han) to the 20th (Vecdi Seyhun and others). For me, though, it is the astonishingly imaginative, exquisitely crafted taksim improvisations that I return to again and again. The improvisation in the mode called Irak, for instance, is only one-and-a-half minutes long, but it expresses both generations of tradition and a unique musical personality. - Chris Williams, fRoots