Sinanation

She came to us on a sunny afternoon;
She was the spirit we were waiting for;
Spread into our ears like the sweet melody of a lagoon,
she was the energizer we have been craving for;
Bubbled up our laughters
like the hot stove below warm waters
Disorganized and unprepared,
we have forgotten about the only thing that matters

So glad she found us;
So glad she reminded us,
How precious our everlasting friendship is,
How important its unconditional support is

Cease to pretend,
to restrain;
Caress the plain;
Dance to sunny days;
Dance to fresh waters;
Dance to caressing winds;
Dance to true friendships

Dance to Shay-DA

Simply the best work of Hovannes K. Finally found a way to post the song here. (You might have to click on the link below twice to start the song)

Hovannes K. – Disc’oriental

After years of struggling, Tarkan is back with a great hit called “Sevdanin son vurusu” (The final punch of passion). Sertab Erener is also out with an equally well done album including her popular song “Koparilan cicekler” (Plucked flowers). It was time I blended all into a groovy mix that welcomes the summer to Istanbul. Enjoy…

I have been biased about Seal. He has a great voice and I have been a fan of some of his hits, but… The unfortunate skin problems on his face distanced the eyes from his album covers. His sparkling suit at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was too flashy even for a world famous singer.

His thick legs and unstable walk was a barrier to the smoothness of his performance on stage. His constant appearance next to his wife, Heidi Klum seemed like an undeserved publicity. I have been wrong about Seal.

His performance in Istanbul on July 19th during the Garanti Bank’s Jazz Festival was exceptional. We made the decision to go to the concert 2 hours before with Aydin. Questions like “what were his most popular songs?” and “will Heidi show up?” kept popping out on the way to the Cemil Topuzlu Concert Hall. Confused, clueless and unorganized we took our seats, waiting for a singer we were both not very impressed with. The huge legs were still unproportional. The pants were unnecessarily y tight. The walk was still sloppy. Yet, such details were only there to mislead us.

An incredible voice filled our ears. A perfectly motivated spirit recharged our batteries. A well-versed and humorous personality touched our hearts. We clapped until our palms hurt. We sang out loud any lyric we were familiar with. We cheered whenever we were prompted to. We have been blown away.

I have been wrong about Seal.

P.S.: I am also equally content to meet someone who can sweat a little more than I do on the stage/dance floor.

Time to welcome Istanbul with the beats of New York and the shakes of Turkey and the Middle East.

PS: Eko and Patbin, this is especially for you.

Let’s welcome spring in style with some great music. Enjoy…

PS: Follow the “Happy Hour in Spring” link right below the player to download the mix to your personal computer.

Happy Hour in Spring by Sinan Bastas

Thanks to my aunt (the beautiful lady on the far right in the photo above), a founding member of Çaba (“Effort” in English), I was invited to a unique night of music and history on my April trip to Istanbul. It was to be the best break from all the stress of surrendering to the military training in a few days. As a non-profit organization, Çaba’s main objective is to mitigate the social and financial problems faced by Turkish people and promote the wonders of Turkey, trying to create an awareness towards such problems. In an effort to renovate two schools built for homeless blind children on the outskirts of Istanbul, the organization received permission from the government to use Aya Irini (Hagia Irene) as the venue to its fundraiser.

Aya Irini is a former Eastern Orthodox Church enclosed inside the walls of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. It is known to be the first church built by the Byzantine Empire in the 4th century and was taken over by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.  Although the church has not been functional for religious practices since then, it has been used as a warehouse and was finally converted into a museum in 1700s. Today Aya Irini is open only for special music performances and permitted museum visits.

Çaba’s event started around 8 p.m. Outside the church, guests were trying to stay warm with the complimentary coffee, pushing against the last few chilly Istanbul nights before the summer took over. The temperature was no different inside as the government prohibits the use of heaters inside historic landmarks. Despite the cold it was impossible not to get into the mystic of the venue and praise the genius of the performers. I was part of a unique night where people from all over the city gathered to meet under the roof of an Orthodox Church within the walls of a Muslim Palace shaken with the voices of Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and Buddhist singers. Below the huge cross depicted on the domed ceiling, we were taken to a journey of the peaceful past with the Turkish folk songs sang by Meyra, the instrumental genius of Antakya Medeniyetler Korosu and the calming circles of a Dervish.

Thanks to Ekin for the great photos.

Stephan Peque is a Frenchman who first visited Istanbul in 1996 with his wife. He fell in love with the city instantly and wanted to promote its beauty to the world through music. “Oh Istanbul” was produced out of this love. I first heard it on the radio during my most recent trip home. It became one of my most favorite songs for my hometown. It took me a while to get ahold of it and I was about to go crazy in my quest. I succeeded and wanted to share this beautiful song with you right away. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I will certainly be using it in my next Dinner mix.

Blame it on our history, culture or our need to be lissom… We have taken on the oriental dance from the Arabs and have held onto it ever so tightly. We dressed up the belly dancers, praised their musicians and watched their performance in awe. The men got hypnotized with flirtatious circles of the love handles. The women grew envious with the daring moves of their comrades.

Up until Hovannes K. (of the famous Buddha Bar in Paris) took on the oriental dance music, it was merely an instrument to an incredible performance carried on by a seductive belly dancer. For the audience, the music was a myth, impossible to handle without the presence of a professional dancer who can live up to its perfection. Together with Claude Challe, Hovannes produced songs like White Darbouka, Disc’Oriental and American Dream (Different Gear Mix) that makes oriental more approachable.

This incredible music man takes the single beat on a darbouka, smashes it up with violins and electronica and crashes them into the voice of an opera singer to produce something so modern yet undeniably traditional. The listener travels to an undisturbed Utopia, finding the very nerve that awakens euphoria.

It is a shame that I can’t find any information on Hovannes anywhere on the web. There is rumour that he is half Turkish. Still I am obliged to thank him for making the oriental beat even more enjoyable and making my little sister’s entrance to her engagement party so special.

I want to leave you with some good music before taking off for the Turkish Military Service.

This set takes me back to a summer wedding I attended in Istanbul a few years ago. One of my best friends’ sister was getting married. After a delicious dinner right next to the Bosphorus, the DJ brought everyone together on the dance floor with popular songs from the 80s. From parents to friends, every guy had a beautiful woman in his arms making the long tails of the evening dresses glide in the air with the sound of music. I hope I can bring back the spirit in that night with Shall We Dance?