Gypsyhood: Turkey
Gypsyhood available from: www.planetalice.net
Sedat Özkan & Daniel Cruz
Grup Kadıköy & Daniel Cruz
Sedat Özkan and Daniel Cruz 2009
Sedat Özkan is 61, from Edirne, Turkey. He retired from a telecommunications company, where he met his soul mate and lifelong companion. He performs the kanun, a string instrument (26 sets of strings, with three strings per set) with a slim trapezoidal soundboard. He performs mostly in the underground of Istanbul and his wife is always with him, like an angel. He performs Turkish sanat music, ethnic music and Turkish popular music. From the beginning he was opened to my proposals and he always listened attentively to see where I wanted the song to go. I learned a good deal with him and I am sure he had a good time during our rehearsals and meetings.
Grup Kadıköy & Daniel Cruz 2008
People in the Kadıköy area of Istanbul call them “The Gypsies” and they are dedicated full time to their profession of street music. Sezgin Furgun, Ramazan Açık and Yüksel Furgun are Grup Kadıköy. Their repertoire ranges from arabesque to wedding passages and popular music. Like their ancestors, as written in the history of street music, they have been persecuted. Not by the church, but by the municipality. Their music knowledge is instinctive and raw, and for that reason, I couldn’t convince them to take one of my songs and work on it for this project. Instead, I asked if they would perform a beautiful traditional Turkish song which is sung to the bride the night before her wedding. They accepted. My spirit is still in this song; it is my arrangement, and I couldn’t resist singing it as well. I’d like to thank Çengel Sanat and Ada Döner from the Nazim Hikmet cultural centre in Istanbul for their help in the recording and interaction with Grup Kadıköy.