Don Cherry & Okay Temiz :: Music for Turkish Theater 1970

A remarkable musical collaboration from 1970 involving jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz has resurfaced after more than fifty years. The music was originally composed to score a provocative stage production set in Istanbul and has recently been brought back into public awareness by Caz Plak.

This body of work was created for Fortune and Men’s Eyes, a play that explored themes of homosexuality within the context of an Istanbul prison. The production itself was controversial at the time due to its subject matter, signaling an early intersection of avant-garde theater and socially charged narratives in Turkey.

The collaboration was instigated in 1969 when American writer James Baldwin facilitated a meeting between Cherry and Temiz in Istanbul. Baldwin’s involvement provided a cultural and political framework that encouraged a fusion of musical traditions, blending free jazz improvisation with Turkish percussion and melodic elements.

The score is characterized by an intense, almost trance-like melding of drums and flutes, reflecting both the urgency of the play’s themes and the experimental impulses of the musicians involved. This synthesis creates a sound that is difficult to categorize but sits between the boundaries of free jazz and what might be described as a sonic fever dream.

Despite its artistic significance, the music vanished from the public and critical consciousness for decades. The reasons for its disappearance are not fully documented, but it remained inaccessible until Caz Plak’s recent archival efforts uncovered the recordings. This rediscovery provides new insights into Don Cherry’s mid-career explorations and Okay Temiz’s early international collaborations.

The reemergence of this score contributes to the cultural memory of Istanbul’s late 1960s and early 1970s art scene, highlighting the city as a site of experimental cross-cultural artistic production. This challenges the common narratives that often marginalize non-Western contributions to global jazz and experimental music histories.

Confirmations regarding the exact recording sessions and subsequent distribution remain limited. While the connection to the play and the general timeframe are established, details about the recording process, original releases, or live performances have yet to be fully verified.

Looking ahead, the availability of this material opens possibilities for reevaluation of both Cherry and Temiz’s discographies. It invites further research into the intersections of jazz improvisation and traditional Turkish music practices, potentially influencing contemporary artists and scholars interested in cross-cultural musical dialogues.

This rediscovery also raises questions about the preservation and accessibility of non-mainstream music from politically sensitive or marginalized contexts. It underscores the role of niche record labels and archivists in rescuing lost works that contribute to a more inclusive understanding of music history.

From an industry perspective, such archival projects can diversify market offerings and deepen fan engagement by uncovering rare or previously unheard compositions. For the artists’ estates, it may rejuvenate interest in their catalogues and support new licensing or reissue opportunities.

Although the full implications for the free jazz genre and Turkish experimental music scenes are still emerging, this find exemplifies the rich potential of uncovering historical collaborations. It serves as a reminder that the global jazz narrative encompasses a variety of voices and stories still awaiting discovery.

In sum, the recovery of the Fortune and Men’s Eyes score not only enriches our understanding of Don Cherry and Okay Temiz’s artistic trajectories but also reinforces the importance of archival persistence in music history. The rediscovered recordings provide a compelling snapshot of a unique cultural moment at the crossroads of jazz, theater, and social discourse in 1970s Istanbul.