Canary Records owner (and a rather fine experimental musician himself) Ian Nagoski should be commended for his work in bringing to life so many wonderful albums from the turn of the 20th Century cut by Balkan and Jewish musicians who left their home countries and made quite good names for themselves in places like New York City. These recordings are lovingly restored, and apparently are leftover tracks transferred from 78rpm discs for a forthcoming 5-volume / 6-LP series to be issued in early 2019. Considering how lovingly Ian treats this material, this upcoming collection sounds like a grand project!
Arabesque
[Music] Kara Üzüm Habbesi – Kardeş Türküler
Kardeş Türküler are a project I’d not come across before. They play a fusion of Anatolian, Thracian and Mesopotamian music, according to their bio. It’s a powerful fusion for sure.
[Music] Elias Rahbani – Mosaic of the Orient
Elias Rahbani was the youngest of the legendary Rahbani Brothers, but was equally as talented as Assi and Mansour were.
[Music] Kemanî Cemal – Aksaray’in Taslari
This is from the release Sulukule: Rom Music of Istanbul. Kemanî Cemal was a Turkish musician from the neighborhood of Sululuke.
[Music] Ferdi Tayfur – Batan Güneş
I wish to thank my Google+ friend and colleague, Mehmet Hanedar, for always providing me with a glimpse into Turkish, Turkic and Central Asia music.
Today’s artist, Ferdi Tayfur, hails from Turkey and was seen as a leading light in Arabesque Music in the 1970s.