Fuat Tuaç crosses borders with his multilingual new jazz album Immigrant — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The acclaimed Toronto jazz vocalist’s fittingly titled second album reflects on his experiences in his adopted homeland, sharing his story in three languages — English, French, and his native Turkish — while curating a potpourri of jazz styles that, like the artist, traverse the globe.
“Immigration is a very hot issue in the world now,” Fuat says. “People move around the world for one reason or another, even Covid could not stop them. I wanted to share my story in Canada as an immigrant. I wanted to talk about my journey in Canada. I wanted to talk about the people I’ve met along the way; my experience inside and outside the jazz world; what I anticipated from Canada and what I’ve found; how people see me and how I see them. I wanted to talk about all of this and inspire people.
“I’d like the songs on Immigrant to speak to every person regardless of their country of origin,” Fuat says. “I think the eclectic nature of the album lends itself to that.”
The 11-song set deals with a host of contemporary topics and issues, including the pandemic online dating, social media and homelessness. “These songs were written in lockdown and recorded recently, so they are also reflective of that period,” Fuat says. “I’ve also included some songs in French and a traditional Turkish song that I revisit in the jazz style.”
The international feel of the album, like Fuat, is expansive, taking flight and soaring, seemingly intent on visiting more destinations than an airport departure lounge. His globetrotting, time travelling style is infused with hip urban poetry and Turkish street flavour. The entire affair is underpinning by rock-solid musicianship from Eric St-Laurent on guitar, Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, Eric West on drums and Jordan O’Connor on double bass. Celebrated vocalist Kim Richardson duets with Fuat on Chez Moi and the renowned Istanbul vocalist Yesim Akin joins Fuat on that traditional Turkish song, echoing hymns from the Asia Minor across the ocean. The album was recorded at Kensington Studios in Toronto, but Fuat traveled to Montreal and Istanbul to record the duets.
Fuat has a personal pedigree as unique as his musical one — he was a lawyer in Istanbul, France, and the U.K. before the calling to pursue jazz full-time became too strong. He relocated to Montreal in 2011 to study at Concordia University, where he began plying his craft in the local bars and clubs of the city. In 2017, he released his first critically acclaimed album Late Bloomer.
Check out Immigrant below, watch some of Fuat Tuac’s videos above, and journey to his website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
