An aurally stunning collaboration between Turkish
guitarist/composer Erdem Helvacıoğlu and American
percussionist Stuart Gerber that merges the guitarviol
with a variety of percussion to create a sound world unlike
any other. Recorded during two days of improvising,
Esther’s Memory explores the line between reality and
illusion, memory and hallucination through the eyes of an
elderly lady with dementia.

In November 2010 Erdem Helvacioglu and Stuart Gerber met in Atlanta with the idea of creating a completely improvised album for guitarviol and percussion. These musicians had never met and knew each other’s work only vaguely. In addition, to the their knowledge, there are no recordings (improvised or composed works) for this quirky instrumentation. Therefore they felt that this venture was initiating a kind of history for this pairing. The guitarviol was a newly acquired instrument and Erdem, while a virtuosic guitarist, was still somewhat learning the instrument during the course of the session. Stuart’s percussion set-ups changed for each piece. The instruments weren’t new to him, but the specific configurations were, and changed for every track. These instrumental components help keep the music fresh and frequently project an exploratory feel.

This was a very pure way of working; the musicians set up in the studio, hit the record button and began playing. While there was very little in terms of pre-determined plan as the session progressed they realized that while often sweet the music frequently had a very disturbing and hallucinatory feel to it, as if someone was in the early stages of dementia and trying to recall their life. There’s an almost constant tension between the musicians as they navigate the novelty of the learning the other performer and their “new” instruments but yet creating cogent musical phrases; not unlike the tension on may feel between reality and psychosis.

Only after the recording and editing process was completely finished did Erdem and Stuart think about how the tension inherent in their performances would transfer to a narrative for the album. Therefore this narrative was not an inspiration for the performances but is instead a reaction to them. The title Esther’s Memory of course has two meanings to kind of reflect these tensions. It both refers to Esther’s particular thoughts, memories, history, etc. as well as to the memory others may have of this character, particularly after her passing.

Track Listing
1) The Nascent Thought
2) Herstory
3) Mnemosyne
4) July’s Provocateur
5) The Muse of Interiority
6) Solitude in Aught 6
7) Bells of Remembrance
8) History’s Laterality
9) Cognitive Flotsam
10) An Unmeasured Loss of Acumen
11) Diodic Multiplicity
12) Discrete Inlets (of Yesterday)
13) Transcendence (Re)Incarnate

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Esther’s Memory was recorded on 18/19 November 2010 at the CARA studios at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

It was recorded by Dr. Robert Scott Thompson.

Initial editing was done by Erdem Helvacioglu and the final editing and mastering were done by Dr. Robert Scott Thompson and Stuart Gerber in consultation with Erdem Helvacioglu.

n Esther's Memory, Turkish composer Erdem Helvacioğlu and American percussionist Stuart Gerber explore the mind of a woman with dementia through sound. It was recorded while improvising over two days yet it feels very cinematic. I couldn't begin to dissect each movement individually in the space I have here so I'm going to attempt to look at the project as a whole.

The primary instruments on the recording are melodic percussion instruments that seem to include chimes and bells and an instrument I had never heard of before, the guitarviol. A guitarviol is a guitar that is constructed with the bow in mind, though you would not necessarily use a bow in the same way that Jónsi from Sigur Rós uses it. It's a much more classical approach that here sounds almost primitive. There isn't a single melody to grab onto as you listen, everything is kind of helter skelter. I think this is due in part to the fact that it was improvised and also to the subject matter. While there are no lyrics, this is absolutely a conceptual piece.

After a very small amount of research, I can say that I find it interesting that the third movement is titled "Mnemosyne.” Mnemosyne is the personification of memory in ancient Greek mythology and is also the mother to the nine muses, each representing a form of music, poetry or science. The association with memory alone makes sense, yet to include creativity seems to be a nod to the creation of this recording in the first place.

The further into the project I got and the more I tried to see what this woman would have been going through, the more heartbroken I became. This music is confusing and infuriating at times. There's no point of reference that holds up under an attempt to lean on it. If this is what it is like to lose your memory and your sense of self, I can't help but wonder how you cope or if coping is possible. This project also proves that avant-garde in music does not have to mean Yoko Ono. This music is rife with meaning and room for interpretation, not mindless screaming. I'd love to hear what else these guys have done.


Guitarist Erdem Helvacioglu carries on in his cinematic vein with Esther’s Memory, a CD of free improvisations with percussionist Stuart Gerber. Prepared guitar (actually a TogaMan GuitarViol) and selected percussion, rather short tracks that weave an inner dialogue, in addition to creating pensive moods. Less aerial than Planet X (his collaboration with Ulrich Mertin).