Derya Türkan’s performance will give us an excellent opportunity to sample the current Turkish music scene, of which we have had only brief glimpses over the years at Druga Godba, and to see why this classically trained young master of the kemenche, the Turkish lute, has had such an impact in his home country. A genuinely fresh and contemporary musician, Türkan also creates intriguing links between Turkish music past and present, as well as between the Turkish and European music traditions. A classically trained artist, his interpretations of the music of the ‘golden’ Ottoman period are masterful, but he is equally adept as an improviser, possessing a deep knowledge of current music in general and contemporary jazz in particular. With its lucid mix of the traditional and the contemporary, Türkan’s latest album, Minstrel’s Era, in which he collaborates as part of a string trio with double-bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons and cellist Uğur Işık, is a superb example of his creativity and wide-ranging musical interests.
Derya Türkan – kemenche
Uğur Işik – cello
Renaud Garcia Fons – double bass
Discography:
Minstrel’s era (Kalan Music, 2006)