Jazz has long operated with something like an open-door policy, absorbing influences from classical, folk, rock, and beyond. Turkish-American composer Mehmet Ali Sanlikol extends that tradition in a particularly personal way on The Electric Oud Man Speaks and You Listen…, a five-track project that brings Turkish makam, jazz improvisation, and rock energy into a shared musical language.
Sanlıkol’s musical background reflects that synthesis. Raised in Istanbul by a classical pianist mother, he grew up surrounded by Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin before discovering jazz — a turning point that led him to study the music more deeply and eventually attend Berklee College of Music. Boston is now his home…