Category: Turkey

Elif Sanchez: Mi Voz

September 21, 2022

Art and life merge in the luscious voice of Elif Sanchez, and her second album offers the privileged listener an international voyage, no passport required. Her music rests on a traditional foundation of family and schooling: Born Elif Cakmut in Istanbul, she grew up singing Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs with her mother, had a classical conservatory education, learned oboe and English horn, played in a symphony orchestra, studied jazz … More Elif Sanchez: Mi Voz

Fulya Özlem & Akustik Kabare: Mânidar Boşluk

January 2, 2019

The singer-songwriter Fulya Özlem spent years studying and performing abroad, tracing a path that includes English, Scottish and Irish folk, tango, Latin jazz, bossa nova, French and Spanish Renaissance compositions, Sephardic music and rebetiko before returning to her native Istanbul. On Mânidar Boşluk (The Conspicuous Abyss), her third album, she explores something that was always part … More Fulya Özlem & Akustik Kabare: Mânidar Boşluk

Mizgin: Lorin

November 13, 2018

Denied education, she taught herself. Denied a voice, she just sang louder. Mizgin, born in the Kurdish heartland of eastern Turkey, contracted polio at two and spent her early years at home, unable to go to school. Initially without crutches, she crawled; often alone, she listened to music and taught herself to play her brother’s saz. In her teens, against her parents’ wishes, she went to live with her sister in Istanbul, where she learned to read and write … More Mizgin: Lorin

Ferhat Tunç: Kobani

December 11, 2017

The Kurdish-Turkish singer-songwriter Ferhat Tunç has achieved artistic success, but he has also provoked criticism that goes well beyond negative reviews. Over the course of his 30-year career, he has been harassed, censored, fined, indicted, arrested, jailed and received death threats. As this review posts, he awaits trial in Istanbul on charges of “insulting the president” of Turkey and “propaganda for a terrorist organization” over his support for the Kurdish rights movement. The alleged crimes arose from Twitter … More Ferhat Tunç: Kobani

Gülben Ergen: Kalbimi Koydum

January 11, 2016

Notwithstanding its name, the Turkish music form known as Arabesque has Byzantine and Balkan influences as well as Arabian. Over the past 20 years a new form, Arabesque-pop, has emerged with the addition of more Western instruments. On her tenth album, Gülben Ergen— the Queen of Arabesque-pop—sings across a stylistic spectrum, from traditional melancholy songs to dance-pop rhythms. Despite the plethora of instruments—including baglama, oud, guitar, bouzouki, sax … More Gülben Ergen: Kalbimi Koydum