Help me get into Turkish music?!

Eshta

Eshta

New member
Hey ladies, seasonal greetings!

I have been dancing in a Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant for quite a while and have been lucky enough that the owner doesn't care that my music is 90% Egyptian, as long as the standard of dancing is good. But I seem to be getting more and more work with Turkish restaurants and private bookings and really feel I should endeavour to make the effort to add some Turkish music into my repertoire!

The problem is that so far I've heard very little that I actually like. To me, a lot of what I hear sounds very techno-poppy and/or way over-embellished with the tabla. But I've not heard a lot and don't really know where to start looking.

So if there are any Turkish belly dance aficionados out there, can anyone give me a good place to start? Even perhaps a great upbeat pop song (NOT Tarkan's kiss kiss song!") I have to start dipping the toe in at some point and could really do with some help on this one!
 
Farasha Hanem

Farasha Hanem

New member
ARRRRRGH! :mad: I just came back from The Musical Heritage Society's website; several years ago, I bought two CD's from them, both titled "Turkish Bellydance," but both by different artists. MHS no longer carries them! :( Both CD's are traditional music, with no techno mixed in. I'm not sure if I can find them anywhere else on the internet. :( I'm so sorry!
 
Shanazel

Shanazel

Moderator
I would assume so. I bought it in the mid-seventies and either loaned it to someone who didn't return it or gave it away. :( I'll see if I can find it anywhere online.

I just went back to that site and don't understand it at all. Looks like just a place to rate music without any indication of how one might obtain the record. I think I'll write my friend Greg in Colorado who deals in vinyl and see if he can find me a copy. Will let you know.
 
Farasha Hanem

Farasha Hanem

New member
:confused: My mp3 services are being a pain. Amazon doesn't have my CD's, Walmartdownloads.com is more or less telling me my browser sucks lemons, and Napster won't let me share a link without including an invitation to try them out. -_- I did manage to find one of my CD's there, so I'll go ahead and post their link; I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want to use it.

Listen to this album on Napster: <a href="http://home.napster.com/ns/play/album/12657206" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.napster.com/images/share/button_play_dither.gif" border="0" /></a>Turkish Bellydance by Huseyin Turkmenler Ensemble

^__^ *looks above at the copied and pasted link* Wow... :confused:
 
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J

jahbie

New member
I googled it and found some places selling it, but only as an LP. Has it actually been made into a cd?





Ariadne said:
Looks like an awesome CD but that site doesn't actually link to anyone who is selling it and I couldn't even find it on ebay. Is it still under copyright?
Click to expand...
 
walladah

walladah

New member
What type of Turkish music are you looking for?

And what music do you think that your working environment would appreciate?

I mean, do you think that they would prefer traditional turkish, or artistic (sanat) music, or modern/pop music, or modern composed as old style, or old-style (ottoman era, romantic era) etc?

And i suppose that they would prefer Turkish lyrics or just instrumental music?

If there are lyrics, you are supposed to interprete them too... as everyone in the audience would know what the singer sings...
 
Eshta

Eshta

New member
walladah said:
And what music do you think that your working environment would appreciate?

I mean, do you think that they would prefer traditional turkish, or artistic (sanat) music, or modern/pop music, or modern composed as old style, or old-style (ottoman era, romantic era) etc?

And i suppose that they would prefer Turkish lyrics or just instrumental music?

If there are lyrics, you are supposed to interprete them too... as everyone in the audience would know what the singer sings...
Click to expand...

I think modern and/or pop would be ideal really. For example, I usually start a set with a modern egyptian mergence, and probably end up with Nancy Ajram/Hakim/Saad el Sorghaia/etc. I often add in Shik Shak Shok for good measure. I guess the point is that I can navigate my way around Egyptian music pretty comfortably but don't even have a starting point in Turkish music. Beyond Tarkan of course!

I would love to find the Turkish equivalent of a mergence, and some current pop music that is actually danceable. Preferably contemporary but old hits would be great too!
 
walladah

walladah

New member
Some names you can use to search for

modern pop music are the following

a) Yusuf Guney

f.ex. the following
YouTube - Heder Oldum A?k?na (Yusuf Güney)

b) Sertap Erener
f.ex. the following
YouTube - SERTAB ERENER - IKIMIZ BIR FIDANIN (2010 YENI ALBUM RENGARENK) BY KARATEKINCIK
or the one that was Eurovision 1st prize
YouTube - Sertab Erener-Everyway That I Can

c) Sezen Aksu (although some consider her more artistic than pop)
f.ex. this
YouTube - Sezen Aksu - Erkek Güzeli (Müthi? ?ark?!!!)

d) Ozcan Deniz (actually his old style compositions are better, but everything he composes is very good)
f.ex. this
YouTube - Özcan Deniz-"Zorun Ne Benle A?k" (i give you the original clip, for it is really funny)

and do not forget the turkish hip hop stage- my favourite is the band Istanbul Attack, f.ex. this song
YouTube - ?stanbul Attack - istanbul geceleri
 
Maysoon

Maysoon

New member
Turkish Music

Ariadne said:
While trying to find "Juliana Presents" I stumbled onto this site if it helps. :D

Radio Bastet - Vintage Belly Dance Music
Click to expand...

Oh Yeah this site has lots of Turkish music and you can download all the belly dance programs for free! also check out Mustafa Kandirali a Turkish clarinet player you can find all his music on Youtube of course lol...two of my fav songs from him are Haydar Haydar and Roman Havasi

Happy New Year!!!
 
Marya

Marya

Member
Maysoon said:
Oh Yeah this site has lots of Turkish music and you can download all the belly dance programs for free! also check out Mustafa Kandirali a Turkish clarinet player you can find all his music on Youtube of course lol...two of my fav songs from him are Haydar Haydar and Roman Havasi

Happy New Year!!!
Click to expand...

Mustafa Kandirali is the musician on How to make your husband a sultan. He is a fabulous clarinet player.
 
Jeanne

Jeanne

Member
I have a CD called "Alla Turka" that is pretty good; I think it was made for/with the dancer Ozel. Not sure of the musicians; the copy that I loaded onto my iTunes library in my office computer just says "Various Artists." I might be able to get some more details when I look at the CD at home.

Also, if I remember correctly, I think the CD "Gypsy Fire" is mainly Turkish-style music.
 
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