I’ve been continuing my explorations of music from Central Asia, and my most recent spin was this upcoming release from the Uzbekistan-based record label, Maqom Soul Records. As they continue to re-release and re-issue older media to preserve their cultural heritage, they re-introduce the world to great musicians from Central Asia.

This record, Oriental Suite, is no exception. Coming from the creative mind of Oleg Gotskosik, a Tashkent native, is a jazz fusion unlike any other. Gotskosik is said to have combined the methods of creating improvisational jazz and Uzbek folk music, not in the sense of taking pieces from each, but rather by creating through living and breathing both – composing pieces that just are both jazz and Uzbek folk. As someone who loves jazz, this was a record that I was very excited to really dive into, and this album did not disappoint.

The first track I’d like to highlight is the album’s fourth track, “Meditation I” – this piece is fueled by delicate and powerful piano melodies and a leading, crooning trumpet. I really love the emotion that the trumpet projects across this track. It’s yearning, it’s sorrow, and maybe it’s a melancholic sort of reminiscence. The trumpeting on this song is like a ballad – it really captures this sort of wistful feeling – and the piano plays to the polar ends of power and gentleness, creating an interesting dichomatic element across the piece.

My favorite track off of this record is “Dervish Dance”. The drum rhythms are complex and intriguing, the bass melodics are groovy, and the brass section is just really fun. I really enjoyed how all of the elements fit together. The brass and bass seem to play twin parts, which is a really interesting detail – I’d never expect to hear those two particular sections play the same melodies over and under each other. Though this piece is nearly 50 years old, it definitely feels like a jazz piece that was released in the last few years – it feels like a really modern take on modal jazz.

The album closes on another brass-laden song, “Marcia”. This closing track really wraps up the album in an interesting way. We leave this experience quite melancholic – the use of clashing, discordant, disharmonious note couplings on top of what seems like the hitting of tightly coiled metal strings is a really striking choice, pun intended. Where these other songs feel longing, but a hopeful sense of longing, “Marcia” almost feels defeated.

I had a really amazing experience sitting with this album and getting to dive into a style of jazz that I haven’t spent too much time with. I loved trying to find the pieces that felt more like the Uzbek folk music and which parts were inventive takes on modal jazz – it is an album I predict I will spend much more time with.

You can support Maqom Soul Records and their mission to revive the culturally significant sounds of Central Asia by going to their Bandcamp or Instagram, and you can get a copy of Oriental Suite for yourself on February 14^th, 2026.