Derya Türkan – Sokratis Sinopoulos
Soundplaces

Creating this album has been the dream of a lifetime. After many years of friendship and collaboration, we have finally been able to record our duet. As a piece of work, Soundplaces is a confessional and creative dialogue in which we virtually explore the sounds of the musical traditions we love and the sounds of the places that we visit. In this album, we create an interactive narrative of our geographical, historical and personal inner journeys.

Starting from Istanbul, mother of our instrument and breeding ground to the supreme art music of makam, we travel to the Island of Mytilini and Izmir, city of Rebetiko. From there we go to the Cyclades Islands and Konya - the home of the Mevlevi Dervishes - and then back to the Sea of Marmara in Erdek. We eventually return to Istanbul, this time for its taverna dances, before heading to the place where this album was recorded - the Church of Saint-Remi in Fernelmont, Belgium.

We offer deep thanks to Manuel Mohino, our sound engineer, and Tristan Driessens, our friend, colleague and producer of this album.

Track 08 Soundplaces is dedicated to Neva Driessens

Derya Turkan - Sokratis Sinopoulos

Derya Türkan and Sokratis Sinopoulos have been the most influential Istanbul kemençesi or Politiki lyra performers for almost three decades now. Together, they have recorded two albums as part of their Letter from Istanbul project and individually, they have performed significant concerts and recordings as leaders or in collaboration with prominent international musicians in a variety of musical styles from classical to contemporary improvisation.

They share a longtime friendship which started when they met in their late teens and they have since become pioneers in collaborations between Greek and Turkish musicians exploring the common ground between these two cultures.