I was cataloguing my collection on discogs today and came across this CD which I think I'm listening today for the first time. I remember buying it very well though, it was June 2009 in Istanbul. My girlfriend really wanted to see a Formula 1 race, so we got tickets for the Turkish Grand Prix, which was the closest to our then home in Athens, and which gave us the chance to do something we always wanted: visit the sights of this historic city which also happened to be the place of my paternal grandfather's childhood. The event itself was badly organised and -at least for the people in the cheap seats (not that we had seats mind you, we were just sitting on the ground)- an ordeal. Imagine sitting under the burning sun (it was 40 degrees Celsius) for hours listening to the deafening roar of the engines, just to watch them pass by like a flash in front of you every two minutes. Small water bottles cost €5 or €6, I don't remember the price for a sandwich but it was shocking. There were no screens and no narration, so you had to use your imagination as to what was happening in the race. Small wonder the Turkish Grand Prix was discontinued after a couple of years, the whole thing was a disgrace to the sport. But the rest of the trip was very nice, the food delicious and the locals quite hospitable. The concierge at our hotel was really friendly, gave us a lot of tips and, when he heard I was collecting music from all the places I visit, he suggested some CD's and sent me to his uncle's shop which was specialized in Turkish traditional music. This was just an apartment that didn't look like a shop at all, but did have some CD's lying around - all Sufi/Dervish music. I ended up buying a few CD's suggested by the owner for, I think, 5 or 6 Lira (€3) each.
This was one of them. I think when we returned I must have heard a few minutes of it and removed it, as I had brought back other CD's more to my taste. This time, though, I listened to all of it and read the liner notes. Apparently Tümata is a collective revolving around Dr. Oruç Güvenç, a musician/ethnomusicologist who studied ancient Turkish music healing techniques dating back to that nation's pre-Islamic period at the steppes of Central Asia. Back then, the Baksi (healer) used music and dance to cure patients by, presumably, driving evil spirits away, although Dr. Güvenç has a pseudo-scientific explanation. The instruments used here are Dombra, Tar and Kilkopuz - none of which I had heard before. The first two are plucked instruments similar to the lute and sitar, the latter is played with a bow and looks like a Cretan Lyra or a fiddle. The first song "Baksi Dansi" begins with a sort of incantation and continues with half hour of monotonous plucking. Really boring to listen to, but I suppose the monotony serves a purpose, which is to help the baksi fall into a trance. The second piece "Improvize" is somewhat more pleasant thanks to the more melodic sound of the kilkopuz. Now I'm not a fan of either New Age music or culture, so you can bet I won't be listening to it again soon. If, on the other hand, all these sound interesting to you, there's some relative info here.
*** for Improvize ** for Baksi Dansi
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