Fuat Tuac: Immigrant

It’s not often you hear a singer that you just can’t pigeon hole, and Turkish-born Furat Tuac is gratefully just that man. The best you can say is that he’s Mark Murphy-ISH, as he’s as flexible as Turkish Taffy, but he has extra bohemia like Gil Scott Heron as well. This album is mostly originals, and he mixes and matches with a cast of Eric St-Laurent, Miles Davis-sounding Kevin Turcotte/tp, Eric West/dr, Jordan O’Connor/b and a handful of creative guests.

A duet in French with Kim Richardson and a muted Turcotte brings out a Left Bank smoky “Chez Moi” that fascinates, while “Uzun Ince Bir Yodayim” is a luscious paring with Yesim Akin”. Tuac himself is kaleidoscopic, going deep into subtones with St-Laurent on “Who’s That Man?”, slowly sambaing on “La Rua Madureira”, lilting with O’Connor for “Stay” or getting elliptical on the prismatic “Long & Winding Road”. He even shows some hip soul as he veers around “Asla Unutamam” and is as colorful as a black light poster on “No Strings Attached”. This album takes you in more directions than the streets of a Turkish souk. WHEW!