Ilhan Kemaleddin Mimaroğlu (1926-2012) Photo source unknown, fair use
Portraits of Ahmet M. Ertegun and Nesuhi Ertegun, Embassy of Turkey (Archives), Washington, DC, 193- (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The influence of Turkish immigrant brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun on the American music scene in the second half of the 20th century is difficult to underestimate. They popularized and produced jazz, Rhythm and blues artist. Their lesser-known colleague Ilhan Mimaroglu has a slightly different aesthetic at work. In addition to being involved in the production of many Atlantic Records artists (including Charles Mingus, Freddie Hubbard and others), his study of electronic and tape music development techniques helped him develop a unique sound. Create using electronics, tape, acoustic instruments, musique concrète, and combinations of these media. Equally adept in the arts of music production and recording, he has used this knowledge to create an impressive body of work that deserves to be known by more people. He also curated the sub-label Finnadar to release his own music as well as that of other artists with a similar vision, such as Anthony Braxton, Frederic Rzewski, Morton Feldman and others.
During the same tumultuous era when Atlantic Records shaped popular music in the Sixties, Mimaroglu created many works that reflected his political views. Using his knowledge of studio technology and emerging developments in electronic music synthesis, he composed numerous purely electronic studies, music concrete, at least 4 string quartets, solo piano works and many more that have yet to be fully cataloged.
First let me clarify the word “Agitprop”. It is a portmanteau, or portmanteau, of the words “incitement” and “propaganda.” The term seems to have been first coined and used in conjunction with the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and its political tactics. The idea is to create a form of advocacy that not only informs but also encourages action.
I focus here on his overtly political rhetoric as embodied in Sing Me a Sammy Song (with Freddie Hubbard, 1971).
This unusual piece, a concatenation of electronic score, Freddie Hubbard Quintet, organ and strings, is perhaps the best example of Mimaroglu’s brand of political music. This is by no means his only agitprop/political work, but it is probably his best and one of the best in this tricky and often controversial genre.
The title is a combination of the town name (Son My), the location of the My Lai massacre, and the sarcastic text “Sing me a song of Son My.” The work’s collage and non-linear format actually contains a dizzying array of concurrent horrors, including the Sharon Tate murder and others, whose themes await full analysis by historians and/or musicologists. Works include poetry Fazil Husnu DaglaqaLuciano Berio did something similar in his similarly political masterpiece Sinfonia (1968). The work is filled with musical and structural references later enumerated by the late American composer/musicologist Alan Stout.
It is also one of the most expensive productions, blending ever-evolving musical genres with highly controversial and ugly themes. It’s shocking enough to be compared with Picasso’s “Guernica”. Add in thorny early electronic music, Hubbard’s free jazz, and jazz/blues-style writing, and you’ve got a powerful indictment of war crimes that’s hardly a bestseller. Only as time heals and the sting of those memories fades, does this work begin to be more fully appreciated.
Participating musicians include:
- Freddie Hubbard – Trumpet, bold trumpet (#1, 3, 4, 7), recitation (6)
- Junior Chef – Tenor Saxophone (1-4, 7)
- Kenny Barron – Piano (1-4, 7)
- art booth – bass (1, 3, 4, 7)
- Louis Hayes – drum (1, 3, 4, 7)
- Ilhan Mimaroglu – synthesizer, processing sound
- Arif Marchfrom – organ, conductor
- Barnard-Columbia Chorus Director Daniel Paget
- String Directors: Gene Orlo and Selwart Clarke
- Marianne Hawksworth (1, 3), Nha-Khe (3, 8), Charles Grau (3), Gungor Bozkurt (3, 10) – recitation
- The music is divided into the following ten parts:
- Part one
- “The Elegy of Sharon Tate” – 2:04
- “This is the fighting I know” – 8:56
- “Crowd” – 7:03
- “A great time at Kent State” – 1:28
- part two
- “One Man Show” – 2:54
- “Black Soldier” – 2:19
- “Interlude 1” – 5:48
- “Interlude II” – 4:30
- “Yet, there is love”—4:28
- “Epilogue” – 1:05
This work has been released on CD.
Related articles
