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Baba Zula (Turkey)

with guest Brenna MacCrimmon
& dj medicineman

TORONTO - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2008 - The Small World Music Festival presents Istanbul's musical and visual feast, Baba Zula with special guest Toronto vocalist Brenna MacCrimmon.

Like their hometown of Istanbul, Baba Zula is full of fun, vigour, eccentricities, oddities and tradition. With ritual-like, live performances that include fearless excursions into the worlds of poetry, theatre, animation elaborate costume and bellydancing, this group is a feast for the eyes and ears.

Baba Zula features founding members Levent Akman (percussion, rhythm machines, toys), Murat Ertel (saz and other strings, vocal), as well as darbuka player Cosar Kamçi who replaced original member Emre Onel in 2005. BaBa Zula included live drawing artist Ceren Oykut in 2004 and her presence onstage has added an important visual aspect to the group's performance. They magically blend the sounds of oriental instruments such as the darbuka, electric saz, and spoons with modern electronic influences which creates the unique sound they call "Oriental Dub". Just as a ney can represent the past Sufi-Islamic tradition, and a clarinet is the symbol of the music of the Turkish gypsies - an electric saz together with a wooden spoon can serve as a musical compass to Turkish musical roots going as far back as pre-Islamic, shamanic times.

Although the blend of instruments and the description might give a certain impression of their music, it actually sounds more akin to the rock n' roll of the late '60s courtesy of their Turkish Producer Mehmet Ates. Their albums on Turkish label, Doublemoon have included mixes by legendary British dub producer Mad Professor on their album Psychebelly Dance Music. On their 2007 release, Roots, Baba Zula return to their original format as a trio and only the core members of the BaBa Zula family, along with Toronto vocalist Brenna MacCrimmon who added her Balkan folk stylings to the mix.

BRENNA MACCRIMMON has been learning and performing Balkan and Turkish music for over 15 years. While taking an ethnomusicology class at U of T in the early 1980s, Brenna MacCrimmon sought out local Turkish musicians and was inspired to learn a folk instrument called the baglama. She then began playing and singing in a Turkish community band. "I went from being a passive listener to an active performer," she says. During a five-year stint in Istanbul, she immersed herself in the Turkish culture, and sang regional folk music at festivals and special events. She studied Rumeli folk songs and performed Karsilama with Thracian Roman ensemble, Psyche-belly Dance Music and Duble Oryantal (Double Oriental) with BaBaZula. Since then she has performed internationally and produced two CDs, including Karsilama, which was nominated for a Juno Award in 1998. She recently formed Orkestra Keyif with Beth Cohen, Paul Brown and other Turkish music lovers.

DJ MEDICINEMAN is Small World Music's resident ethnogrooveologist and one of the city's foremost global groove tastemakers. Host of the renowned global fusion and dubtronica show No Man's Land, you can hear him every Wednesday afternoon from 12-2 p.m. on CIUT 89.5 FM.

babazula.com

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