Though Chick Corea may have been among the first to splice Spanish spice with fast moving modal jazz with early Return to Forever, his original blueprint continues to be modified and updated today. Yet while Michel Camilo has fused his latin and classical roots with dazzling results and fast-rising Armenian star Tigran has brought jagged prog electronica together with his folkloric foundations, Turkish pianist and composer Fahir Atakoglu is perhaps a lesser-known quantity in this field. This explosive live set should help change that. Newly released, but recorded some six years hence, the lyrically and technically adept leader is joined by rhythm section bad boys Caron and Hernandez, and while neither is short on subtlety or muscle, they deploy both with keen intelligence. Atakoglu’s 17th album from a busy and successful career (he’s sold two million albums worldwide) as both solo artist and television/film composer, the material here has featured on previous releases, notably his Grammy-nominated 2008 set, Istanbul In Blue. Originally featuring guitarists Mike Stern and Wayne Krantz, as well as saxophonist Bob Franchesini, the trio firepower on hand means these adrenalised live versions are no less spectacular. Tricky Turkish rhythms are dispatched with ease, especially on the 5/8 opener ‘Beyoglu’ – named after the ‘the Times Square of Istanbul’ – and when Atakoglu starts piling on the chord changes Caron’s sure-footed lines offer both clarity and propulsion in equal measure. ‘ESS’ (taken from his score for a musical version of Metin Kaçan’s novel Agir Roman – or East Side Story) is typical of this album’s delights: its brooding diminished intro soon spiralling out into a roaring latin-fuelled groove, Caron’s fretless six-string bass growling with well-placed menace. It’s a sound you should get to know sooner rather than later.