One Truth

Just a few years ago, Omar Faruk Tekbilek could be found playing for belly dancers with his group, the Sultans. But with One Truth, he further establishes himself as an artist to be reckoned with in his own right. The Turkish-born Tekbilek has been working a Middle Eastern fusion since his Suleyman the Magnificent soundtrack with producer-composer Brian Keane. One Truth follows the trail blazed by the ensuing albums, such as Beyond the Sky, upping the rhythmic ante with some deeply layered percussion tracks and letting Faruk cut loose with ecstatic Sufi wails. But this is a mostly instrumental affair. Tekbilek plays just about every Turkish instrument you can think of, including the ney, darbouka, oud, def, and bendir. And that's just on one track. On "I Love You," he carves gorgeous melodies on the ney flute as lush arrangements from producer-keyboardist Ron Yuval surround him. Flamenco guitarist Adam Del Monte rips across the throbbing percussion of "Red Skies," and "ARA'ya" strikes a more contemplative mood with a deep and low ney flute over drones and birds. If there is One Truth, this album gets close to it. --John Diliberto