Traditional Sounds

27. Tufan Altaş

2011-07-22T13:03:00.003+04:00

I have no idea where Tufan Altaş is from, but he certainly knows how to play a saz! (Or is this a bağlama?)

26. Ali Ercan

2011-06-22T20:27:00.003+04:00

Another great, great, great Turkish musician and singer. One has to hand it to the Turks: When it comes to being a great traditional musician AND singer, they are hard to beat. The first time I came across Ali Ercan (pronounced 'er-djan') was in the ever-so-'umble shop of a 'kasetci' ('cassette-dji' in English) in the town of Ispir in North-eastern Anatolia. Unsatisfied with the age of the music the owner played for me, I asked him for cassettes of 'very old' traditional Turkish music. He began to play a song by Ali Ercan - one with a synthesizer. I said that this was certainly not old enough, to which he answered: 'You must be joking! Even Ataturk himself went to the concert!'
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25. Abdullah Papur

2011-06-22T20:15:00.003+04:00

Having just trawled through several (9) albums by Turkish musician and singer Abdullah Papur, I have come to the decision that it was worth listening to songs I really did not like for over an hour just to end up with this one song: Uzak yoldan gelen yolcu ('A traveller comes from afar'). Admittedly repetitive, but nonetheless a "traditional club-banger"!
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24. Ferdi Özbeğen

2011-06-22T19:58:00.004+04:00

Turkish music combined with jazzy funk... On the surface, an almost unbeatable combination, and one which Ferdi Özbeğen has undoubtedly pulled off with this song: Köprüden geçti gelin ('the bride crosses the bridge', I think - Turkish speakers: please help!).
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Born in Izmir in 1941, Ferdi Özbeğen seems to have been one of the "kings of 70s cheese" of Turkish music, but this song - taken from an apparently quite rare compilation entitled 'Bosporus Bridges - A Wide Selection of Turkish Jazz and Funk 1969-1978' (Discogs - link >>>) - is just unbelievably good!
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Having just returned from a week-end jumping off a yacht in a bay near Bodrum, I can safely say that this tune of Ferdi's is one of the best cures for "post-Bodrum blues" I could ever have imagined!
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22. Afghan Funk

2009-11-12T19:57:00.003+04:00

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As Afghanistan slowly opened up to the world in the 1960s and 1970s, the country was exposed to Western music, and a fusion of sorts seems to have taken place as traditional Afghan music became influenced by outside musical styles.
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The following song is by a certain Hasan Bismil. I unfortunately don't know anything about him, but "jaan bashai ailagi" is an absolute Afghan club-banger!
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Hasan Bismil - Jaan Bashai Ailagi
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Another great favourite of mine is Nasir Parwani's "Dard Dandan", which was apparently recorded at a wedding.
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Nasir Parwani - Dard Dandan
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21. Bakht Zamina

2009-11-12T19:42:00.005+04:00

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I don't know much about Bakht Zamina, but she was clearly a fantastically beautiful and talented Afghan singer, as this video on YouTube illustrates:
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Note that she never smiles, and that she always moves back - away from the microphone - when she isn't singing... Perhaps there were limits to what one could show (i.e. what women could do) even on Afghan Communist television? Also, I think that the way she rolls her eyeballs when saying "vai, vai, vai" is brilliant!
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However, besides daring to "westernize" (i.e. appear on television without a veil, sing, &c., which no doubt made her many enemies in ultra-conservative Afghanistan), she apparently collaborated with the Afghan Communists, as this other video illustrates:
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Here is the studio version, perhaps more explicitly pro-Communist:
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A Chitrali friend in London once told me that she lived in constant fear of being made to pay for her songs, and that - one day - her inevitable destiny caught up with her...
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20. Bulgarian Bagpipes

2009-10-12T10:20:00.003+04:00

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The legendary Valia Balkanska sings "Излел е Дельо Хайдутин" ("Izlel e delio haidutin"), a song from the Rhodopian mountains in Bulgaria. This song was included on the golden record which was launched into space on board the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in 1977.
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Valia Balkanska was born in a hamlet near the village of Arda in the province of Smolyan in Bulgaria in 1942, and has been singing Rhodopean folk songs since childhood. She has been working with the Rodopa State Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances in her native Smolyan since 1960, and in 2002 was awarded the "Stara Planina Orden", the highest Bulgarian award, for her work.
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Here is another tune for bagpipe from the Rhodopean mountains, played by renowned musician Stefan Zahmanov:
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19. Aurelia Shrenker sings 'Lale'

2009-09-01T23:57:00.002+04:00

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18. Pontic Greek Music

2009-09-01T11:09:00.003+04:00

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Until their deportation in 1923 under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne - treaty which called for a population exchange between Greece and Turkey - hundreds of thousands of Greeks had been living along the Black Sea shores of north-eastern Turkey for millennia.
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Traditional Pontic Greek music is a mixture of native Greek, Turkish, and Kartvelian (Laz), as were many other aspects of Pontic Greek culture (dance, food, dress, &c.).
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Here are some videos from YouTube, mostly recordings of documentary programmes which were shown on Greek television in the 1980s:
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Lizeta Nikolaou sings Forty Red Apples
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Famous Greek actor Nikos Xanthopoulos sings Tsambasin. This video, which was part of a film called Odysseia enos xerizomenou (1969), is in two parts: Following Xanthopoulos' song, there is a remarkable Pontic Greek dance.
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A recreation of a "traditional Pontian wedding"
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A dance called "tik", to the strains of a tulum bagpipe
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17. Mahmoud Ahmed sings for the DERG

2009-08-08T17:48:00.006+04:00

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Not "traditional" Ethiopian music - strictly-speaking - but a good song and a remarkable music video! (Watch out for the soldier "playing air guitar" on his AK-47!)
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Mahmoud Ahmed is one of Ethiopia's most famous singers, and it is a shame to see him in this video.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btRYS-GgL8I
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(Apologies for not embedding this video, but the ever-more-fickle YouTube tells me that "embedding [was] disabled by request"...)
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16. Kabard Music

2009-08-08T17:24:00.005+04:00

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These two songs were found in the "Music" section of www.kabardins.com
The Kabards live in the north-western Caucasus. Many emigrated to the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century, following the Russian invasion of the Caucasus.
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Song 1 (solo accordion and solo male voice)
Song 2 (solo accordion)
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15. Feyzoye Rizo

2009-08-03T10:34:00.002+04:00

The opening scene of an Armenian/Kurdish film called "Vodka Lemon" (directed by Hiner Saleem, 2003) features a remarkable performance by a Kurdish singer called Feyzoye Rizo (whose song is accompanied by Egide Cimo on the duduk):

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14. A Chechen 'zikr'

2009-08-02T23:23:00.008+04:00

A zikr or dikhr is a religious ceremony practiced by certain Sufi Moslems around the world. Its most famous manifestation is probably the ceremony carried out by the so-called "whirling dervishes" in Turkey - a major tourist attraction in Istanbul and in Konya. Like their fellow zikr-practitioners, these Chechens aim to enter a trance-like state through mental and physical exhaustion, a state which will bring them closer to God. The powerful, fast rhythm, combined with the repetitive chanting and strong breathing, and with the spinning, circular movement, are particularly propitious. This is not "music", strictly speaking, but it bears all its hallmarks, and the result is amazing!
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Two other interesting examples:
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13. Nizipli Deli Mehmet

2009-02-11T11:47:00.003+04:00

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"Mad" Mehmet from Nizip, a town close to Urfa in southern Anatolia, singing "Gitti kish, geldi bahar", "Winter is going, Spring is coming", as recorded in the 1920s or -30s.
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12. Cekic Ali

2009-02-03T11:28:00.006+04:00

Çekiç Ali was a renowned Turkish singer and bağlama player. Here are some of his songs:

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Doğar yaz ayları
"Summer months are born"
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Kızılırmak
"Red stream"
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Sarı yazma
"Yellow scarf"
[thanks to Ahmet Toprak of turkradio.us for correcting the original, faulty translation]
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The excellent Turkish music label Kalan Müzik released a CD and an audio cassette of his folk songs in 1999 (Kalan 152).
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11. Chitrali Music

2009-02-02T00:45:00.006+04:00

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Two pieces - similar, yet different - interpreted by Fateh Uddin, Durdana Khan, and Shuja ul-Haq. The songs were perhaps originally released on a 60-minute audio cassette, and were found on the excellent Shandur.com website - a 'site "dedicated to providing information about shandur polo festival and other tourist spot in the Northern Areas including Chitral". (Yasinvalley.com is another excellent source for music from Yasen, Chitral, Hunza, Shin, Wakhan, the Pamirs, Chilas, and Baltistan.)

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Song 1
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Song 2
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(The opening instrumental solo of the second song ranks among the finest and most soulful entrées I know; and although the voice in both pieces is a little harsh to my ears, I find that "it grows on one". This is remarkable music, and I know of no other like it!)
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And from our friends on YouTube: A short documentary film on Chitral, which mostly deals with music and song. Well worth watching!
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Part 1
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"Chitral has a rich diverse cultural heritage.See the complete series of this movie and you ill find out pleasent and melody voice of various singers.....see the Baarwazi style dance and listen to Aamir Gul."
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Part 2
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"Aamir Gul the famous poet and baba of Sithar....listen to him carefully .he is nt plain Sithaar ..He Speaks."
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Part 3

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"The Romeo & Juliet Of Chitral. Muhammad Siyaar & Youman Hammeem. Listen the story and Siyaar poetry."
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Part 4

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"Listen to the melodious voice of Mir Wali Khan Master of Koragh.He is singing of Siyaar's poetry."
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Part 5

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"Here you can view old traditional dances and songes.The people of Chapali are very famous in dances. See the introduction of Sufism and Garba."
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10. Stonemasons of Galicia

2009-02-01T10:42:00.005+04:00

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This song is called "Canción de Canteros", and was recorded in Galicia (a province of north-western Spain) in the 1950s by Alan Lomax, folk- and ethno-musicologist extraordinaire. It is a remarkable example of a work-song; my guess is that the stonemasons use this song's powerful rhythm to synchronize their efforts whilst hoisting a heavy stone with the aid of a block and tackle.
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Not only are the singing stonemasons speaking gallego - a dialect of Spanish spoken in Galicia, a mix of Spanish and Portuguese - but they are also using a secret language unique to their trade. It took me some time to find someone capable of translating the song for me. In the end, the (somewhat bewildered) patrons of the "Galicia" restaurant in West London were able to shed some light on the song's lyrics: "Rich or poor, fat or thin, we will all end up [buried] underground", etc.
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9. Uzbek Teahouse Music

2009-02-01T10:25:00.005+04:00

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Bangecha and his Dancing Dog (Mark Slobin)
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Recorded in the city of Tashkurgan south of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan in 1968, this song is an example of "teahouse music" (i.e. popular music performed in teahouses), and the players are none other than Bangecha (of "Bangecha and his Dancing Dog" fame - see photo above) and a certain Simorgh. The song (05:23) is called Laili Laili Jaan ("Dearest Laili"; Laili/Laila and Majnun are the eastern equivalents of our Juliet and Romeo).
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The rhythm of this song is fantastic, and the musical performance quite impressive. The use of "dove's bells" marks the Uzbek influence of this piece; these bells (zang-i kaftar) are attached to the drummers' hands, and provide a nice counterpoint to their efforts whilst enhancing the effects of the rhythm. Another clue to Uzbek influence is the audience expressing their satisfaction or admiration by whistling in imitation of birdcalls.
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The dancing dog ("Pupi") was part of Bangecha's act, a gimmick useful for building a reputation. (Apparently, a contemporary of Bangecha's used a goat to attract a crowd.) At 02:15 (just before the middle of the song), you can hear Bangecha saying "Wah, wah", "Woof, woof", which presumably triggers his dog à la Pavlov into doing a quick trick for the audience. And the crowd goes wild, and applauds, with congratulatory cries of "Wallah!"
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For more on Uzbek music from northern Afghanistan, go to Mark Slobin's excellent website. (He's the genius who recorded this in the first place.)
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8. Malatya'li Fahri Kayahan

2009-01-30T02:36:00.004+04:00

Malatyalı Fahri Kayahan was an outstanding musician and singer from the city of Malatya in central Anatolia. Here are some of his songs:

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Ördeğin Sürüsü
"the flight of ducks"
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Sensiz Sönmez
"it [the fire of love] will not go out without you"
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Ela Gözlüm
"my hazel-eyed [girl]"
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Ayrılık Ateşten Bir Ok
"separation is an arrow made of fire"
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Bülbül
"nightingale"
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7. Two Old Armenian Songs

2009-01-29T16:42:00.007+04:00

The following two songs were recorded in Armenia in 1909 by the London Gramophone Company, which had an office in neighbouring Tbilisi between 1901 and 1918 (responsible for the Caucasus and Central Asia).

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"alagyaz badzr sar e", "[Mt.] Alagyaz is a great mountain"
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"en inch man er ark'ayakan", "What a kingly thing this is"
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Both these songs are to be found on an amazing CD compilation of old recordings entitled "Before the Revolution: A 1909 Recording Expedition in the Caucasus and Central Asia by the Gramophone Company", which is available on Amazon and on the other usual websites. Will Prentice of the British Library was the man responsible for compiling this CD, and he has written an excellent article on the activities of the London Gramophone Company in the Caucasus and in Central Asia in the 23rd edition of Playback, the bulletin of the British Library's National Sound Archive.
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6. Hamlet Gonashvili

2009-01-29T16:19:00.006+04:00

Hamlet Gonashvili is THE voice of Georgia, and arguably the most famous Georgian singer of all time. Born in eastern Georgia in 1928, he began singing at a very early age, and his highly-praised interpretations of Georgian songs (particularly those of the Georgian regions of Kakheti and Kartli) won him many awards and prizes. He became the star soloist of the renowned "Ensemble Rustavi", with whom he recorded many of his best-known songs. He died at the height of his fame in 1985, when he fell from an fig tree... (Fig trees are reputedly dangerous in Georgia, apparently; they are easy to climb, but their branches easily snap or droop.)

(Gonashvili's demise must rank among the strangest and most tragic in the world of music, on a par with that of the brilliant French composer Charles-Valentin Morhange - known as Alkan - who supposedly died at the age of 74 when he was crushed under a bookcase in his home whilst reaching for a copy of the Talmud. This apocryphal story was later disproved by one of Alkan's pupils, who wrote that the composer actually met his end when he became trapped beneath a falling porte-parapluies.)

The following YouTube video is a (very silly) music video made for Georgian television of one of Gonashvili's most famous songs, an interpretation of the Georgian song "tsintskaro", "before the [water] spring" sung by him and the Ensemble Rustavi.

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And a video of Gonashvili and the Ensemble Rustavi singing the amazing "shen bitcho anagurelo".
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5. Master Singers from Urfa

2009-01-29T03:35:00.009+04:00

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A magnificent photograph of Urfa in southern Anatolia, taken by Hans Mast (www.hansmast.com)
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The city of Urfa in southern Turkey is famous for its holy fish (which swim lazily in beautiful pools of water built next to the mosques) and for its music and singers. During a recent (2005) trip to Urfa, I bought an amazing double-CD compilation of old recordings: "Urfa'dan Üç Musiki Ustası", or "Three Master Musicians of Urfa", complete with lavish and informative booklet in English, &c., released by Kalan Müzik in 2004.

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Here are some of the songs which feature on the CDs:
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Bakır Yurtsever (1908-1985) - otherwise known as "Bekçi Bakır" ("Bakır the Watchman"); "yurtsever" means "he who loves his country" - was one of the finest singers of his time. Here he is, singing "Ah Niceler Talibi Feyzi Muhabbet Olmak İsterler", "Bir kara kaş, ben bu dağın ağacıyam", and "Söyleyin Şu Bülbüle"

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Hamza Şenses (1904-1939, who was known as "Bald Hamza", because he grew bald at a very early age) singing "Aya Bak Yıldıza Bak", "Kışlalar doldu bugün" ("The Barracks filled[-up] today"), and the oddly-named "Ne Hoş Olur Mahpushane Havası" ("How good the air is in prison"!)

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Hamza Şenses (1904-1939)
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Bakır Yurtsever (1908-1985)
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Bakır "the Watchman" Yurtsever and "Bald" Hamza Şenses must rank among the finest singers the world has ever known. Kalan Müzik, who released the double CD compilation with their songs, included a small but lavish Turkish/English book with biographical information on the Master Singers. Here is what they had to say about Kel Hamza:

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Of all Urfa’s vocal artists of the past century, one of the first to come to mind is Hamza Şenses. Because he lost his hair at a young age, he was known by the nickname "Kel Hamza" (Bald Hamza).
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HS was born in 1904 , in a house on Hilal Street behind the Selehettin Eyyuubi Mosque, in the Büyük Yol area. On his mother Zeliha’s side he descended from the Tanburacıoğlu famıly. His father Mustafa worked in the fur trade. He had one brother, Ibrahim Halil, who also was a furrier, and died in 1968. His wife, named Hanım, who died in 1978, was the his mother’s brother’s daughter. They had three daughters, Hayriye, Zeliha and Türkan, who died in childhood.
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Hamza Şenses never attended school, but taught himself to read and write because of his own interest. From a young age, he wrote poetry and composed music.
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His real profession was feltmaking. At work, he would sing türkü and hoyrat to himself. In the exuberance of his youth, he also wrote a few songs of his own. One day as he was singing hoyrat, his master and his friends listened to him, and asked "Hamza, you have a nice voice, why don’t you make a record?” In Urfa during that period, music was made for the joy of it; to play or sing for money, to become a professional performer, was considered quite shameful. For this reason Hamza thought long and hard, then went and explained the situation to his uncles. They gave him permission, saying “you’re an orphan, you’re poor, you have a beautiful voice, you are free.” He started singing at various places, and gaining some popularity, he went to make a recording. When the record came out, his fame spread beyond Urfa, and he began to get offers to sing in gazinos (music nightclubs) in other cities. Thus until his death, he worked as a singer in many provinces, playing in a variety of musical gatherings, concerts and gazinos.
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Living in the same period as the famous singer Mıkım Tahir, Hamza Şenses also played bağlama, tambur and cümbüş, and performed in Şanlıurfa’s Çardaklı Cafe and the Aynzeliha Gazino. At one point he was performing on the stages of Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Adana and Istanbul.
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Performing with various ensembles in the sira geces of Urfa, overnight gatherings in the mountains, and other musical events, he got his practice and training from the master musicians of the time, and participated in radio programs for the anniversary of Urfa’s liberation on April 11 as well as other programs. He also performed for many years with the ensemble at the Urfa Halk Evi (a local venue) and gave countless concerts.
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He had six records to his name, and was an important source for Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) and added many of his türkü and uzun hava to their repertoire, such as “Diyarbakır Bu Mudur”, “Adam Ağladan Oldum”, “Aşkın Ne Derin Yâreler Açtı Ciğerimde”, “Kışlalalar Doldu Bugün”, “Ne Hoş Olur Mahpushane Havası”, “Nere Gidim Kardaş”, “Urfa Dağlarında Gezdiğim Çağlar.”
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He had a beatiful voice; powerful, clean and passionate, and sang hoyrat and gazels especially well, moving his audience deeply. His voice was so strong that when he sang one night in the Urfa Castle, he could be heard in Karaköprü, six or seven kilometers away. He sang his uzun havas in his own personal style, which is emulate by many contemporary artists when they sing these pieces. His uzun hava “Kışlalar Doldu Bugün” made Muzaffer Akgün and several other artists
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Hamza Şenses was a meticulous man who liked to dress neatly, always wearing a suit and tie and a fedora. Dressing this way in Urfa in the 1930s and 40s, he was quite ahead of the times.
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He was very polite and sensitive, and was deeply devoted to his children, loving to talk and joke with them, and buy them presents. Thus the loss of his daughter Türkan, who fell from a rock and suffered a brain hemorrhage and dying after many years of illness, was a devastating blow to him. Upon her death, he composed the uzun hava beginning with the words “What deep wounds love has opened in my heart, this great world has turned into a grave in my eyes.”
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Though he made only a small number of recordings, his voice was known throughout the entire country, and he was one of the most famous singers of his time.
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During the 1940s, Hamza Şenses was performing several times a week at Urfa’s spot for drinking and music, the Çardaklı Cafe . One night when he was not performing, feeling bored, he got dressed to go the the Çardaklı Cafe. He called his daughter Zeliha and said “Daughter, I’m going, is there anything you want to say?” Showing him her neck, she said “Give me a kiss, [so that] my father’s scent will come from here.” Kissing his daughter, he left the house and set off for the club. As there was no program that night, he sat at an empty table and ordered. At that point some people sitting at another table said "Hamza, we know you’re off tonight, but this place is nothing without you; go up and sing us a few tunes.” Hamza answered “Since you insist, I’ll go up and sing you one,” went onto the stage, and sang a türkü. As he was leaving the stage, one of the people insisted he come to their table. He thanked them but declined, sitting back down at his own table. At this, the people there began arguing. One of them said “This Hamza is really full of himself, he doesn’t deign to come to our table.” Another said “Hamza is my friend, don’t shoot your mouth off about him that way.” The argument turned into a fight. Hamza approached them and said “shame on you, you’re friends, why are you fighting, eat drink, and go home happy.” It was winter, snow was all around. One at the table said “It’s your fault we argued in the first place, beat it,” and pushed Hamza. The Çardaklı Cafe was surrounded by wire fencing. Hamza, who had drunk, slipped and fell onto the thin fence, which collapsed. He fell from the Çardaklı Cafe, which was on the first floor, down into the Nacar Bazaar, hitting his head on the woodblock in front of the carpenters’ shops. When the group saw him fall, they ran off; leaving him to be found lying on the ground by the night watchmen on their rounds. They picked him up and took him to his house, saying “he’s really drunk, lie him down.” When his mother laid his head on the pillow, blood came onto her hand, and she said to the watchmen “My son’s head is broken, what happened, where did he fall?” They answered “He fell from Herrane Kedosu’s Cafe.” When he didn’t revive after three hours, they took him to the hospital. He had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was immediately taken into surgery, but the wound was too severe and he did not survive.
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Thoughout his life, Hamza Şenses experienced the pains of separation and longing, deprivation and loss of a child. For this reason, nearly all of his pieces tell one sad story or another. “Kişlalar Doldu Bugün” (The Barracks Filled Today) and “Diyarbakır Bu Mudur” (Is This What Diyarbakır Is) are about separation, “Urfa Dağlarında Gezdiğim Çağlar” (The Ages I Spent Wandering in the Mountains of Urfa) is about his uncle Ali who was shot and killed, “Aşkın Ne Derin Yareler Açtı” is about the early death of his beloved daughter Türkan, and “Adanalı Esmer Okur Yan Bakar” (A Dark One From Adana Sings and Looks Askance) was written about a dear friend from Adana.
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The Story of the Uzun Hava “Kışlalar Doldu Bugün”

Hamza Şenses’ younger brother Ibrahim was a soldier in Diyarbakır. Then, military service was not like today; it lasted three or four years, longer in wartime. So Hamza missed his brother İbrahim, who had been away for a long time. He went to Diyarbakır to see him and went to the barracks of his battalion. The officials there said, “Your brother is on duty, we can’t call him now.” Even though he said he’d come from far away and wanted to see his brother if just for a few minutes, they answered “it’s not allowed” and refused permission. At this, he said he wanted to speak with the battalion chief, and after much insisting he managed to get into see him. The battalion chief was a good-natured sort, and friendly. At this, Hamza Şenses introduced himself, and said he’d come a long way to see his brother. The battalion chief was a music lover and had heard of Hamza Şenses, so he treated him to tea and coffee, and called his brother Ibrahim in to see him.
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After they’d talked, the chief said to Hamza, “You have come this far, let’s have an evening [of music].” Hamza agreed and they put on a great show for the soldiers in the battalion. That night, sad at having to leave his brother, he wrote the piece “Kışlalar Doldu Bugün” (The Barracks Filled Today) and sang it to those present. Later it was immortalized when he made a record of it:
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The barracks filled today
They filled, and emptied today
Come brother, let’s talk
Today I faced separation,
Forced, with no choice
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Midnight came,
And with it, my tears
I don’t collapse under just any pain,
But this one was torture
From a land of strangers
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4. Halay Music and Dancing from Turkey

2009-01-29T02:06:00.004+04:00

The old:
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And the newer!:
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3. The north-eastern Anatolian "Tulum"

2009-01-28T13:28:00.001+04:00

2. Music from Kafiristan

2009-01-26T10:41:00.012+04:00

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Two Wai musicians - playing a "wadj" (left) and a "serenggi" (right)
Waigal Valley, Afghanistan, 1953
(photo by Peder Rasmussen)
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1. A fife and drum piece played by the Kalasha people (Pakistan)
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Kalasha girls dancing
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2. A funeral chant sung by a choir of Kam singers (Afghanistan)
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3. "Ruqs kardan", a fife and drum piece played by Kam musicians (Afghanistan)
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4. "How beautiful is her tunic, its neck bearing a string of silver coins", sung by a choir of Pashai singers (Afghanistan)
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Inhabitants of the Parun (left) and Wama (right) Valleys in Afghanistan, 1974
(photo by Max Klimburg)
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5. "atane meli kashana" for "shibro" (flute) and "djamba" (drum), recorded in the Waigal Valley in 1968
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6. Wedding music (Pashto?) for "zurna" (reed flute) and "dhol" (drum) recorded in the village of Chaga Sarai in Nuristan
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7. "kamale kimile", a polyphonic song sung by a choir in the village of Mondesh in the Waigal Valley, recorded in 1953
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8. A Pashai dance tune, payed on a fife and a drum
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The village of Waigal in Afghanistan, 1974
(photo by Max Klimburg)
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1. Georgia: The Kavsadze Dynasty

2009-01-26T01:20:00.003+04:00

Sandro Kavsadze

Sandro Kavsadze was one of Georgia's greatest singers. Born in 1874 in the village of Khovle (in the Kaspi district of Western Georgia), he was first taught to sing by his father, Grigoli Kavsadze, a priest. Later, Sandro continued to study song at the seminary in the town of Gori. His teacher there, Simon Goglichidze, was a renowned singer himself, and within a few years Kavsadze had become an expert, and had been designated Goglichidze's deputy and substitute. (A certain Iosep Djugashvili, later known as "Koba" and "Stalin", also studied in the seminary in Gori, and was a contemporary of Sandro's.)
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In 1893, after finishing his clerical studies, Kavsadze formed his own choir and performed concerts for charity; he also formed choirs in Tbilisi (in 1896) and Poti (in 1897). In 1911, Sandro left his group under the direction of his brother Mikheil, and moved to western Georgia. He formed several choirs there, in Satchkere, Tkibuli, Chiatura, Zestaponi, and Kutaisi, and Kavsadze also taught Georgian folk music in schools and high-schools. In all, he spent twenty years in the region of Imereti, where he made an enormous contribution to the revival of traditional music and folklore.
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Almost twenty years later, in 1930, Sandro was given the (rather Soviet) title of "Artistic Figure of Merit", and the thirtieth jubilee of his work was celebrated. In 1935 he was asked to move to Georgia's capital Tbilisi, where he was commissioned to set up and prepare an Eastern Georgian Folkloric Ensemble for the "Decade of Georgian Culture", an art and folklore festival which was to be held in Moscow.
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In 1937, Kavsadze and his ensemble travelled to Moscow, where they performed to great acclaim, winning an award. After the festival, a meeting was held in the Kremlin between the Politburo and all the festival's participants; this meeting gave rise to the following anecdote:
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The story has it that the festival's participants – singers, dancers, artistic directors, etc. – were gathered in the Kremlin's Georgievsk Hall, where they were nervously awaiting Stalin's arrival. At last, the Man Himself entered the room – A "hurrah!" resounded, but Stalin lifted up his hand to bid those gathered be silent. He looked around the room at length, clearly searching for someone. Everyone became anxious: Whom was he looking for?? What should they do?! At last, Stalin asked in a low voice "if Sandro was there." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the crowd parted to form a passage: at one end, Stalin; at the other, Sandro. It was of course protocol that the person meeting Stalin should walk up to him, but Sandro didn't move – a clear slight to the Great Man. They stared at each other for a few seconds, surrounded by the stunned crowd. Stalin then took the first step, followed by Sandro, and they met in the middle of the room, and embraced each other. "You have not changed," said Stalin, giving Sandro a pat on the back. Sandro remained silent, and patted Stalin on the back. "Indeed, you have not changed," repeated Stalin, patting Sandro on the back again. They conversed in low voices, Stalin asking Sandro if there was anything He could do for him? "Give me your pipe," said Sandro – The pipe has been a Kavsadze family heirloom ever since.
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After Moscow, Sandro and his ensemble were bidden to travel onwards to Leningrad (formerly St. Petersburg, and now St. Petersburg again). However, shortly after the festival, Sandro (by then 63 years old) fell ill, and was hospitalized in the Kremlin. Lying in the hospital, Sandro received a letter. On the envelope was written "To Comrade Alexandre Kavsadze, from Stalin." The letter read: "Greetings to Sandro! ["sandros gaumardjos!" in Georgian] I happened to learn from Egnatashvili that you are in the Kremlin hospital. This is bad news, but the doctors tell me that you will get better soon. If you need anything, please let me know, for I am ready to help you in any manner. May you live for a thousand years! Your Soso, 1937." - Too ill to continue touring, Sandro remained in Moscow, and the Ensemble continued under the direction of his son, Davit Kavsadze (1907-1952). Having arrived in Leningrad, they repeated their success, and for his achievements Sandro was awarded an Order and was named "Honoured Artist of the Georgian [Soviet Socialist] Republic".
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Sandro returned to Tbilisi shortly afterwards, where he died on 12 June 1939. He was buried in the city's Vake cemetery, in Georgia's Pantheon.
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In 1986, the Russian "Melodiya" label re-issued 16 old recordings of Sandro Kavsadze and his Ensemble ("Sandro Kavsadze – Georgian Songs from the Archive", Melodiya M30―46085―86). I believe this record has itself been re-issued as a CD. -- Most of the songs on this record were recorded by Sandro and his Ensemble in Moscow in 1937, but the quality of several of Sandro's 1909 (London Gramophone Company?) recordings (of which there are four on this record) remains unsurpassed to this day, most particularly his solo renderings of an "Urmuli" – a Kakhetian cart-driver's song – and of "Mtao, gadmishvi" ("Let me pass, O Mountain"). The two are considered to be masterpieces.

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Here are some songs:
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"mtao, gadmishvi" (Sandro Kavsadze, 1909), "Let me pass, O Mountain!"
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"urmuli" (Sandro Kavsadze, 1909) - this would have been sung by a carter on his way from the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti to Aghzevan (in Armenia) to buy salt.
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"gutnuri" (Sandro Kavsadze, probably recorded between 1909 and 1918), a ploughman's song from eastern Georgia
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"herio, bitcho!" (Mikheil Kavsadze & ensemble, 1914), a scything song from western Georgia sung by Sandro's brother Mikheil

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"netavi, gogov, me da shen!" (Sandro Kavsadze & ensemble, 1937), "if only, girl, you and me...!"
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"lalo, va, i aralo" (Mikheil Kavsadze & ensemble, 1914)
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Mikheil Kavsadze

These songs (with the exception of "netavi, gogov, me da shen!" (recorded in 1937) were probably recorded in Tbilisi by Franz Hampe and his colleagues, sound engineers working for the Caucasus and Central Asia branch of the London Gramophone Company. The Gramophone Company had an overseas office in Tbilisi from 1901 to 1918, and during this period succeeded in recording hundreds of songs from even the most remote regions of the Caucasus mountains.
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A CD entitled "Before the Revolution: A 1909 Recording Expedition in the Caucasus and Central Asia by the Gramophone Company", released by the Topic record label in 2002 and entirely compiled from material recorded by Franz Hampe and his colleagues at the London Gramophone Company, is available for purchase on the usual websites (on Amazon, for example).
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For more information on Mr Hampe and the exploits of the London Gramophone Company in the Caucasus and Central Asia, an excellent article by Will Prentice on the subject was published in the 23rd edition of Playback, the bulletin of the British Library's National Sound Archive. (Note: Mr Prentice was responsible for compiling the aforementioned CD.)