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Bosphorus and Mode Plagal
Tou Vosporou to Pera / Beyond the Bosphorus (Hitch Hyke)
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Beyond The Bosphorus is a collaboration between Greek band Mode Plagal and the most recent incarnation of the Turkish group Bosphorus, which now includes such leading performers of Turkish art music as Hasan Esen (kemençe) and Murat Aydemir (tanbur). On vocals is Vasiliki Papayeoryiou, who has worked with Bosphorus in the past. In short, this is an impressive line-up. The Şrst song is Konstantiniye, placing Istanbul/ Constantinople at the heart of the album's subject matter. There is a lot happening on this recording, and the disparate elements - music in the makam tradition, Turkish folk ballads, ballads in Western tempered scales, funk-rock, etc. - are not always reconciled, with the two bands contributing their own styles in varying measure to create a kind of fusion on some tracks, but on others going their own way. Both Lullaby, an Esen composition, and This Night by Takis Kanellos, are pretty representative of Bosphorus & Mode Plagal's customary manners respectively. However, the resulting diversity of texture overall on the album is satisfying and appropriate - this is a highly eclectic project that points in many directions at once, aiming to evoke the complexity of one of the most intriguing and untamed cities in the world.
The lyrics to these songs are especially interesting as they reşect a much wider range of content and style than would normally be found on a CD, including Bektashi folk poetry in Turkish, original and knowing poems by Papayeoryiou and one poem by Greek poet George Seferis, to whom Papayeoryiou also alludes in her own lyrics. Seferis was born just outside Smyrni /Izmir and all his life expressed his sorrow at the war that resulted in the displacement of the Christian and Muslim populations of Greece and Turkey his is a Ştting presence on this recording. - Chris Williams
Article is copright 2003 Southern Rag/fROOTS, and is used by permission
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