New Music From Burhan Ocal

Trakya Dance Party

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:57:48 -0500

“For me, music has always served as a way to find myself and understand my past. I set out to discover something universal by using something deeply familiar - the music of my people - as my launching pad. ” says Burhan Öçal, who on "Trakya Dance Party" takes upbeat Roman melodies and interprets anonymous Thracian and Balkan works to reveal delightful outcomes.

Smadj, who worked his magic on their previous album, and who knows no boundaries when it comes to finding new ways to fuse oriental and electronic sounds, returns to lay down the electronic foundation for “Oynamaya Geldik”. With Burhan Öçal’s musical stylings and Smadj’s arrangements, traditional Roman melodies are sent out for the world to enjoy.

Ceaselessly entertaining, Trakya Dance Party keeps the surprises coming through a series of refreshing arrangements and original interpretations of classics. At first listen the album’s sparkling musicality and cheerfulness will be the most striking aspect, but Trakya Dance Party also invites listeners curious about Roman culture into a vibrant world of what life is like in the Thrace region of Turkey.

“Kaynana” is the story of a bride-to-be, while in “Kay?nço” a man reproaching his perennially intoxicated brother-in-law. “Zigo?” features a Turkish man named Abidin and a Greek man named Gurgule who engage in verbal volley while fighting over the object of their mutual affection, a Turkish girl. The song “Bas K?zan?m” illustrates the musical battles, sparring, and jamming that are characteristic of special occasions such as Roman weddings, while “Sülo” offers scenes from Roman daily life.

The album also features four original compositions and many vocal arrangements, as well as the addition of one new member to the All-Stars - 14 year-old Burcu whose rich and evocative voice conveys youthful energy and a wisdom well beyond her years.

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:57:48 -0500

Turkish Classical Music is a highly stylized hybrid of forms from across the Ottoman empire when it stretched from eastern Europe through Arabia. Against the barrage of cheap and popular forms like arabesque and Turkish pop, the genre has bound itself tight in formalized rules and restrictions. Burhan Ocal's New Dream transports the listener within this ivory tower. It is not about stealing from Turkish Classical Music, but bringing it new wealth, of breaking the bindings of its strict rules and allowing the music to breathe again with new life. The rich textures and sumptuous string melodies again become the height of luxury, as they were in the Ottoman Court when it ruled half the world. Resembling nothing so much as a rich Turkish dessert drizzled in sugar syrup at the end of a fine meal with friends, or silk sheets and a four-poster bed with a lover, New Dream is a rare sensual treat.

Kirklareli Il Siniri

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:57:48 -0500

Wishing to pay tribute to the musical heritage of his birthplace Kirklareli, Burhan Ocal comes back home for the most personal project of his life. All of the musicians in the Trakya All Stars are of Gypsy origin which is why this album has such a strong Gypsy feel throughout.

Groove Alla Turca (w/ Natacha Atlas)

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:57:48 -0500

'Groove alla Turca' brings together the traditional rhythms of Turkey with afro-american musical forms such as jazz, blues, funk, hip-hop and soul. Turkish percussion virtuoso Burhan Ocal and his Turkish band join forces with bass master Jamaaladeen Tacuma and some of the finest musicians from New York and Philly (Art Baron, Jack Walrath, Ben Schachter and Daryl Burge to name a few) to create a funky sound with many colors and intricate details. Natasha Atlas' ethereal voice is heard on four tracks, where her Arabic vocals flow meticulously with the groove.