Mustafa Ozkent – GENCLIKLE ILE ELELE is one of those records that earns its reputation every single time someone drops the needle: a fully instrumental Turkish psychedelic funk album originally released in Turkey in 1973, and one of the most sought-after grooves in the crates of serious collectors and working DJs the world over.
Who Is Mustafa Ozkent and Why Does GENCLIKLE ILE ELELE Matter
Mustafa Ozkent was not content to work within conventional limits. To achieve his signature guitar sound, he added extra frets and a clutch of effect pedals to his instrument, allowing him to produce quarter notes and emulate the microtonal scales of Turkish traditional music. The result sits in a space that has no clean label: folk, rock, jazz, blues, funk, and psych all feed into it, but the sound that comes out is distinctly his own. The ensemble he assembled for this record is equally serious: two drummers, two guitarists, two percussionists, a bassist, and a Hammond B3 organist. That is not a band built for subtlety. The rhythmic architecture is thick and locked-in, the percussive weight is genuine, and the melodic material draws from traditional Turkish folk songs that carry real cultural depth. Tracks like “Uskdar’a Giderken,” “Burcak Tarlalari,” and “Silifke” arrive fully formed, built on hypnotic grooves and heavy breakbeats that have been looped, sampled, and studied for decades.
The Pressing: Jackpot Records JPR 31
This copy is the Jackpot Records reissue, catalog number JPR 31, issued to bring the album back to circulation for the audience that has been hunting it down. Jackpot has a solid reputation for treating source material with care, and this pressing reflects that. The original 1973 Turkish release has long been scarce and expensive on the secondary market, making a quality reissue the practical route for anyone who actually wants to hear this record on wax without paying collector prices for a copy in unknown condition. This is an LP format pressing, built for the turntable.
Why a Collector Wants This Copy
The appeal here cuts across communities. DJs have known about this record for years because the breakbeats are genuinely useful and the grooves are deep enough to hold a room. Collectors of Turkish psychedelia, Anatolian rock, and global funk have chased originals for a long time. Listeners drawn to instrumental music with real rhythmic sophistication will find plenty to sit with across all ten tracks. Ozkent’s modified guitar approach gives the album a tonal character that does not sound like anything coming out of Western rock or funk at the same moment, and the Hammond B3 adds a warmth that keeps the record from ever feeling cold or academic. This is a focused, well-executed album from a musician who knew exactly what he was building.
Tracklist
1. USKDAR'A GIDERKEN 2. BURCAK TARLALARI 3. DOLANA DOLANA 4. KARADIR KARA 5. EMMIOGLU 6. CARSAMBA 7. ZEYTINYAGI 8. SILIFKE 9. LORKE 10. AYAZ
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