Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede is a Turkish ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He is one of the leading world music artists in Turkey, Europe and North America, with a unique fusion of Turkish music and other oriental musical influences (i.e. Persian and Indian) with electronic music. His albums Seyahatname ("Travelogue") and Nar are remarkable works of acoustic-electronic music, backed by performances of musicians from diverse cultures and traditions. His most recent album, Su ("Water"), is a collaboration with great local and international musicians such as Susheela Raman, Dhafer Youssef, Sheema Mukherjee (Transglobal Underground) and Hugh Marsh.

Mercan Dede and his latest project Secret Tribe have given powerful live performances at prestigious festivals including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Womex, the Festival de Trans Musicales and Banlieus Bleus, Arezzo, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the World Roots Festival, and the Rhythm Sticks Festival, and at more than 100 shows in Vienna, Geneva, Brussels, Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam and Istanbul. Mercan Dede's U.S. debut got a headstart at the 1st Globalfest in January 2004, followed by a North American tour and the wide distribution of a double album. Mercan Dede has been nominated by BBC 3 Awards for World Music in the Middle East & North Africa category twice and 3 times â€" most recently in 2005 â€" in the Club Global category.

With the album Su he stayed at no. 1 on European World Music Charts for two months (November-December). He recently finished his 2005 European tour which included the following acclaimed festivals: Horizonte Festival (Germany), La Mar De Musica (Spain), Paleo Festival (Switzerland), Chiasso (Italy), La Vilette (France), Ars Electronica (Austria), Salisbury Festival (UK), London Forum (UK), and Wychwood Festival (UK).

Discography

Nefes (Doublemoon 2006)
Su (Doublemoon 2004)
Fusion Monster (Numoon 2004)
Nar (Doublemoon 2002)
Seyahatname (Doublemoon 2001)
Journey of Dervish (Golden Horn 1999)
Sufi Dreams (Golden Horn 1998)

Concerts

*Montreal Jazz Festival in front of an audience of 150,000
*WOMEX
*Festival de Trans Musicales
*Banlieues Bleues
*Arezzo
*World Roots Festival
*Rhythm Sticks Festival
*Horizonte Festival (Germany)
*La Mar de Musica (Spain)
*Paleo Festival (Switzerland)
*Chiasso (Italy)
*La Vilette (France)
*Ars Electronica (Austria)
*Salisbury Festival (UK)
*London Forum (UK)
*Wychwood Festival (UK)
*More than 104 shows in Vienna, Geneva Brussels, Cologne, Paris Amsterdam, etc.
*1st Globalfest in January 2004 in the US
*North American Tour

Achievements

*Nominated by BBC 3 Awards for World Music in the Middle East & North Africa category twice and 3 times â€" most recently in 2005 â€" in the Club Global category
*SU stayed at #1 spot for two months on the European World Music Charts
*Commissioned by the Turkish Ministry of Culture as the music director of the Guldestan project to represent Turkish culture and arts all around the globe
*Featured in Fatih Akin's documentary Crossing the Bridge
*Composer of some music for the recent work Istanbul by Pina Bausch, the world famous German choreographer

Collaborations

*Canadian violin player, long-time collaborator Hugh Marsh
*Sensuous, lush, breathy, voice of Susheela Raman
*Turkish zither virtuoso Göksel Baktagir
*Turkish clarinet virtuoso Hüsnü Şenlendirici
*Tunisian voice Dhafer Youssef
*Young urban poet, Ceza
*Sheema Mukherjee (Transglobal Underground)
*Azam Ali and her group, Niyaz

See also

*Music of Turkey
*List of Turkish musicians

External links

*Mercan Dede's official homepage