Derya Türkan has been the world’s most influential Istanbul kemençesi performer for almost three decades now. He has performed world wide and recorded as a leader or in collaboration with prominent international musicians in a variety of musical styles, from classical to contemporary improvisation. With Istanbul Kemençesi vol. II, Derya Türkan presents his second album highlighting the classical music of his hometown Istanbul. He is accompanied by Belgian percussionist Robbe Kieckens on tombak and bendir.
It was a cloudy day in October. We’d headed to the Wallonian countryside to record in the small church of Saint-Rémi, that stood almost secretly behind some very old oak trees. My friend Robbe Kieckens had been called in to accompany the Turkish kemençe master on bendir and tombak. Before recording started, we said a few words but not all that much. The session took an hour or two and was spent in silence, the two men playing music, just music. A single full take was enough for basically every track of the album. And I remember somewhere halfway the session, Derya Türkan suddenly turned his head, smiled briefly and said to his companion: “nice to meet you.” On the way back, we looked at the sky. Something had truly been fulfilled. Tristan Driessens, Veyrignac, 7th of July 2022.
Robbe Kieckens
Trained in the rhythms of Ottoman classical music (usul) with Fahrettin Yarkin, Robbe Kieckens has also studied various instruments and cultures that that define his style of playing, from ?amenco to Arabic and Persian percussion, including West African music. He masters a very wide range of instruments including frame drums, cajon, congas, tombak, darbuka, udu, riq, calabash, djembe and dunums. Robbe is a founding member of the Lamekan Ensemble and has performed with Compro Oro and Myrddin De Cauter. He teaches bendir, riqq and darbuka in Brussels and Ghent.
Derya Türkan
Türkan grew up in a family of musicians. From 1984 he studied classical kemençe at the State Conservatory for Turkish Music in Istanbul with Ihsan Özgen ; In 1994 he graduated.
Türkan has been working with the music ensemble of TRT Istanbul Radio since 1991 ; In 2000 he became a permanent artist in this institution. Also in 1991 he became a member of Kudsi Erguner‘s ensemble , with whom he toured many Middle Eastern countries and Europe and released several albums such as Chemins and Islam Blues. As early as 1992, Necdet Yasar brought him to the State Ensemble for Classical Turkish Music at the Ministry of Culture, with whom he appeared as a guest artist for seven years. Together with Sokratis Sinopoulos he recorded the album Letters from Istanbul in 1997. A sequel followed in 2018. He also worked with Cengiz Onural and Murat Aydemir in a duo and in the group Incesaz (several albums and one DVD).
In 2006 his album Minstrels Era (with Renaud Garcia-Fons and Ugur Isik) was released, which received international critical acclaim. With this trio he also gave concerts in Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain. In 2013 he appeared as a soloist with the Federal Youth Orchestra under the direction of Howard Griffiths and Sir Simon Rattle .
He also worked with Jordi Savall and the Ensemble Hespèrion XXI, the Pera Ensemble, Djivan Gasparyan, La Sublime Porte and Mare Nostrum. Baki Dyuyarlar brought him in to record his album Kemenjazz (2012). There was also collaborations with Bojan Zulfikarpašic, Vincent Segal, Ross Daly, Enver Izmailov, Alim Qasimov, Jon Balke, Serkan Çagri, Melihat Gülses, Erkan Ogur and Kayhan Kalhor.