Sinan Bakir

The majority of his playing was quietly elaborate, informed by a good sense of when to crescendo and when to lean back and let it rip. The trio proves an interesting point: there are other ways for jazz musicians to play with rock ideas without styling themselves after Miles Davis-type fusion. The Sinan Trio treats rock less like they want something from it, and more like an old friend.

Dan Barry
- Hartford Advocate

Another interesting act is Sinan Bakir http://www.sinanbakir.com/ and his Sinan Trio. Pete caught them at Schezuan Tokyo on Hartford. Sinan plays more in the modern-electric guitar vein, but uncorked some stank brew (that's good, just in case you were wondering) during an interesting but subdued club set. These guys had a really fine division of sound between the bass, drums, and guitar. - http://www.united-mutations.com

Giving the effects pedal a serious workout, Connecticut guitarist Sinan offers laser-like electric guitar riffs run through futuristic fusion processors. With the grit of hard rock and the glimmer of prog jazz, these virtuosic runs recall Steve Vai's: blistering, but never impatient. - http://music.download.com/sinan

These pieces are not just vamps waiting for long solos; instead, many of the songs have strong melodic lines that open up logically for the various solos. "Oddity" displays a Middle-Eastern feel in the rhythms and ringing guitar chords; Bakir's stinging phrases gallop atop Ferber's exciting drum work and Kneeland's rich bass tones. "Stop & Go" has a "rockish" feel, thanks to the pounding drums and thumping bass lines. Bakir digs in on this track and one can hear the influence of Allan Holdsworth, not so much for blazing fast riffs but in the textures of the guitar sound. Without a second lead instrument, Bakir alternates between single-note lines and chordal strumming. "Steps" is a good example of how he allows the melody to dictate the pace, giving room to Kneeland for a short, melodic, solo before digging in to a thoughtful guitar spot.

Other highlights include the title track that opens the program. The guitarist's sound is quite clear allowing the trills and little circular riffs to stand out on a piece that is somewhat introspective. "Play!" is another "hot" track, with a rhythm line that, at times, sounds like Juan Tizol's "Caravan." Kneeland's bouncing bass phrases atop Ferber's strutting drums gives the guitarist the impetus to "let rip."

"On My Way" is a solid debut. It's easy to put this music on and just let it play. One can hear the influences of Holdsworth, John Scofield and Bill Frisell but Bakir is no imitator. The voice of the guitar one hears on the opening cut never wavers or falters throughout. The rhythm section is impressive in their support and creativity. Sinan Bakir is a good young composer and player worth your attention. For more information, go to www.sinanbakir.com.

Richard Kamins - Hartford Courant
- Hartford Courant

Music has a formula: Understanding theory, originality, natural talent, the right chemistry, discipline and focus, incorporate your own influences, understand the business side, and most importantly, music continues to grow inside you for the rest of your life. Sinan Bakir has accomplished and understands all of the above with his (self released) debut LP “On My Way” His well matched trio including the extremely talented Thomas Kneeland on acoustic bass and the magnificent drummer Mark Ferber, have presented us with something new, different and fresh. Jazz has evolved yet again with this new alternative. Lend an ear, it's not your parents/grandparents music anymore. If you haven't discovered Jazz yet, now is the opportune time to do so. Jazz has a new vehicle with Sinan Bakir at the helm and this generation can claim him as one of their own. Debut LP “On My Way” . ”Stop and Go” has a delicious vibe with an example of what a perfect trio should sound like. Listen for the drum solo. ”Ice Orbits”www.myspace.com/sinanbakir has a sweet lazy day feel with layers of emotional complexities yawning and spreading it's wings. ”Evergreen” Is truly a lovely piece from start to finish with an epic bass solo.

Lucia Sanchez - Examiner - Examiner

Any jazz afficianado will love this hot debut from guitarist Sinan Bakir, who has been making a name for himself, playing around the tri-state area these past couple of years. This is an album you can really sink your teeth into, delving into the many delights of Bakir's pure guitar sounds, (no pedals please), his passages are well thought out and devoid of any guitar shredding so endemic in todays music be it jazz or rock. Bakir wears his influences proudly and I hear the echo's of the greats like Wes Montgomery, Les Paul, Pat Metheny, John Scofield et al. Recorded in a one day session, in a re- furbished studio that was once an old church, Bakir and his two seasoned New York studio veterans on acoustic bass and drums have made an album that could have been recorded 50 years ago but could also have been made today and will still sound great 30 years from now..You couldn't get a higher compliment.

Joe Sciortino - Amazon reviewer
- Amazon

Sinan Bakir is young, but at the same time successful musician and guitarist. He was born and raised in Turkey, but relocate to USA.
Now, he is a active as a musician and part of Connecticut jazz scene, and oftenly he used to perform solo, as a duo, in trio and quartet formation.
"On My Way" is his solo offering, where we can find 11 instrumental themes. Sinan has recorded them with two assistents - bass player Thomson Kneeland, and drummer Mark Ferber. Sinan has introduced himself as a talented author, and his performing views accepts a modern tendencies. His themes were done in one interesting performing mood, where influences comes out from the 50's, and reachs actuelle period.
His guitar technique is in many aspects unique, but offering arrangments has something "taken" from Metheny/Scofield approaches.
His performing energy is also specific, and in interesting way he treats often rhythm changes in present album themes. "On My Way" is highly recomandable product, and realistically announce Sinan' s arrival on modern jazz scene.
- Branimir Lokner

Would you move to another continent for your art? That's what Sinan Bakir did. The Hartford-based jazz guitarist transplanted from Turkey to advance his playing. It's been a busy year for him — he's gigging harder than ever, and he just celebrated the release of his debut CD, On My Way. He played last Tuesday at Public in Middletown, a venue that's getting on board the jazz bandwagon with their Tuesday jazz night.

Bakir, along with Matt Dwonszyk on bass and Jay Williams on drums, played a long dinnertime set that included many of his originals from On My Way. His soloing on "Blues for Istanbul" was particularly inspired; the languorous tempo of the song gave him tons of room in which to improvise. But the band truly lit up when they were joined by vocalist Nicole Zuraitis and Craig Hartley on keys. Zuraitis must be training like a marathon athlete, because her voice was doing acrobatic leaps and flips across a sprawling vocal range. She was even comfortable scatting, which is a rarity on the local scene.

No sooner did Zuraitis begin singing than the band seemed enlivened with fresh energy: Williams began synchronizing his drumming with her scatting as if by telepathy. Bakir reached for a wider range of scales. She electrified the entire band! By the final song of the evening, another blues, everyone was in killing mode. Each member of the band was taking excellent solos. The tunes from the trio were solid, but Zuraitis pushed all the musicians to the next level.

Dan Barry - Hartford Advocate