KETENCOÐLU REVIVES ÝZMIR’S MULTICULTURAL PAST IN NEW ALBUM
Today’s Zaman
Jan 23 2008
Turkey
Turks have lived together with Greeks and Jews in Ýzmir for ages.
Many things remain of those times in this multicultural city. Songs
are perhaps the most heart-touching ones from these recollections.
As the most distinguished representative of rebetiko, western
Anatolian folklore and Balkan music, Muammer Ketencoðlu takes his
audiences on a journey in time, back to pre-1922 Ýzmir, in his latest
album. Ketencoðlu is a skilled accordion player, and his album titled
"Ýzmir Hatýrasý/Smyrna Recollections" has been released by Kalan Muzik.
Subtitled "Eski Ýzmir’den Turk, Rum ve Yahudi Turkuleri" (Turkish,
Greek and Jewish Songs from Old Ýzmir), the album represents
a musical voyage into the Aegean city’s multicultural past and
contains 14 songs in Turkish, Greek and Ladino, giving listeners
frequent surprises. Thirty-eight professional and amateur musicians
have contributed to the album and all arrangements were made by
Ketencoðlu and Cengiz Onural. Some of the musicians who collaborated
with Ketencoðlu in the album are Husnu Þenlendirici, Janet and Jak
Esim, Yota Mihalevi, Derya Turkan, Murat Aydemir and Goksel Baktagir.
The album comes with a 96-page Turkish and English booklet that
contains information on Turkish and Greek folk songs and the history
of Jews in Ýzmir. As he was conducting studies to collect information
to be published in this booklet, Ketencoðlu could not find a single
example of songs from Armenians and Levantines in Ýzmir. The booklet,
in addition to historical information, also features the lyrics of
the 14 songs in the album, such as "Ucun Kuþlar," "Esma," "To Salvari"
and "Milo Mu Ke Kandare."
A gift never before given to Ýzmir
"Smyrna Recollections" is in a sense Ketencoðlu’s gift to the
city in which he grew up and is a gift that has never before been
presented to Ýzmir. Ketencoðlu says that with its sounds and smells,
the city of Ýzmir has a huge place in his heart. "Traveling from
Tire to Ýzmir on the five o’clock train in the morning, a toy violin
bought from a street vendor, the days in the school for the blind
and the indispensable ferry boat to Karþýyaka. … I wanted to give a
never-before-given gift to this old city that nourished me as I grew
up," he says in explaining his motive for producing this album.
He notes that many books have been written on the multicultural life
in the old city of Ýzmir but that no book or album presenting the rich
and sophisticated musical tradition of this several-hundred-year-old
city in an integrated manner had been released to date. Thus,
"Smyrna Recollections" is a good introduction for such integrated
studies. It is Ketencoðlu’s intention that with its 14 songs and
accompanying booklet this album will serve as a first step for
future albums. Stressing that the musicians were selected to match
the multicultural qualities of the songs, Ketencoðlu says, "Now the
floor goes to the music. … Now it is time for listeners to open
their hearts to what the Turks, Greeks and Jews, who lived together
in Ýzmir for centuries with their similarities and differences,
have to say. Now it is your turn to embrace Ýzmir."
Adding that the album is the result of arduous and meticulous work
and that music should not be seen as transient, Ketencoðlu says,
"You will get permanence as long as you produce quality work."
–Boundary_(ID_29OUnylaxXlKsG5Y7fDSTw )–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
