Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-08-30
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol Reinvents the Oud on The Electric Oud Man Speaks and you listen...
For more than two decades, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol imagined an oud that could stand its ground inside an amplified band — an instrument with enough volume, sustain, and physical presence to sit alongside drums, electric bass, and horns without losing its identity.
Working with guitarist and oud specialist Mac Ritchey, Sanlıkol eventually developed a custom semi-hollow electric oud fitted with steel strings and magnetic pickups. That instrument sits at the center of his recent five-track album, THE ELECTRIC OUD MAN SPEAKS and you listen..., released earlier this year through DÜNYA.
Rather than treating the oud as a traditional acoustic instrument dropped into a modern setting, Sanlıkol uses it as a genuine electric lead voice. Across the record, blues phrasing, funk grooves, distorted improvisation, Turkish makam, jazz, and psychedelic textures move freely through one another.
The musical reference points are wide-ranging, from Stevie Ray Vaughan and electric-era Miles Davis to Weather Report, the Headhunters, and Anatolian psychedelic rock. Sanlıkol himself has described the sound as something like Stevie Ray Vaughan and electric Miles meeting in a Turkish coffeehouse.
Listen to THE ELECTRIC OUD MAN SPEAKS and you listen....
The project grew from a practical musical problem. In amplified jazz settings, the traditional acoustic oud struggled with feedback and volume, particularly when competing with drums and a full rhythm section. The custom instrument developed with Ritchey gave Sanlıkol the dynamic range and sustain necessary to approach the oud with the physicality more commonly associated with electric guitar.
That opens the door to some unusual musical territory.
“Pickin’ a Shuffle Alla Turca” brings a bluegrass-like picking attack into Sanlıkol’s musical vocabulary, while the extended “Another Dream in Nihavend” gives the electric oud room for distorted improvisation. “Talk About a Turkish Blues” folds Turkish elements into an off-center blues framework, while “A Poignant Truth” turns toward layered electric-oud textures in a more intimate setting.
The album closes with “No Big Deal,” completing a concise five-song set that runs just over 32 minutes.
Sanlıkol is joined by Mark Tipton on trumpet and flugelhorn, Edmar Colón on tenor saxophone, James Heazlewood-Dale on electric bass, and George Lernis on drums. Sanlıkol performs electric oud, vocoder, and Renaissance 17. The album was recorded at Futura Productions in Roslindale, Massachusetts, during sessions in July 2024 and June 2025, with John Weston recording, mixing, and mastering.
The project fits naturally into Sanlıkol’s larger body of work, which has long moved between jazz, Turkish and Ottoman traditions, Western classical music, improvisation, and contemporary composition. His work with DÜNYA has similarly centered on putting musical traditions into conversation rather than keeping them separated by genre or geography.
On THE ELECTRIC OUD MAN SPEAKS and you listen..., that conversation happens through an instrument Sanlıkol helped create specifically for the job.
TRACKLIST
1. Pickin’ a Shuffle Alla Turca
2. Another Dream in Nihavend
3. Talk About a Turkish Blues
4. A Poignant Truth
5. No Big Deal
PERSONNEL
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol - Electric oud, vocoder, Renaissance 17
Mark Tipton - Trumpet, flugelhorn
Edmar Colón - Tenor saxophone
James Heazlewood-Dale - Electric bass
George Lernis - Drums
