A pioneer of rock music in Turkey and one of the founders of the Anatolian rock genre, Barış Manço is the best-selling, most awarded and most influential Turkish artist of all time. As a recording artist, Manço’s songs were translated into multiple languages including English, French, German, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hebrew, Urdu and […]
One of the main faces of London’s underground Turkish psychedelic folk scene, Djanan Turan is undergoing a musical reinvention. Fans attending Friday’s concert at the Jazz Café, where the singer-songwriter shares the bill with BaBa ZuLa (the kings of Istanbul psychedelia), will be able to listen to Djanan’s new musical direction, an altogether mellower and […]
Probably Turkey’s best musical export, BaBa ZuLa has gained a huge global fanbase with their stunning delivery of Istanbul psychedelia. Performing since their student days at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul in the late 1980s, BaBa ZuLa’s authentic blend of Turkish folk, complete with electric saz and spoons, is fed through the musical filters of dub, […]
One of Turkey’s most exciting rappers will be live in London in May. Ankara-born singer-songwriter and musician Ezhel stormed to public attention last year with the release of his phenomenal genre-hopping debut album Müptezhel, which he co-produced with Bugy. Over a smooth blend of hip hop, trap and dub beats, 27-year-old Ezhel waxes lyrical about […]
Solo artist Nilüfer Yanya is the headline act for this weekend’s Camden showcase promoted by London’s most exciting independent label, Blue Flowers. Just 22-years-old, Nilüfer has forged her own musical path by performing in open mic nights across the capital. Her breakthrough single Baby Luv, released earlier this year, was lauded by music critics on […]
It’s only taken 19 years for me to see İlhan Erşahin live. I discovered him by chance while living in Istanbul in the late 90s, after picking up a copy of his Wax Poetic Three album in 1998 from a record store in Beyoğlu. His music was by far the coolest thing I’d heard […]
At once a saxophone player, composer, music producer, club owner, jazz festival curator, and proprietor of his own record label. İlhan Erşahin wears many hats, but ultimately it’s the music that best defines him. Growing up in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and Turkish father, Erşahin’s musical ear was immersed in the coolest of sounds: […]
