As enrollment for the spring 2010 tour heats up, those of you in the Bay Area are encouraged to attend a free event at Bird and Beckett (653 Chenery, Glen Park, SF) on February 14, 1pm, featuring a Tangents Turkey Music Tour presentation by Dore Stein and music set by acclaimed baglama/oudist Gari Hegedus (Stellamara, Teslim, among others). There will also be a limited supply of Tangents Turkey Tour music samplers given out.

It's gratifying to see the Turkish media and prominent travel writers profile the Tangents Turkey Music Tour. Below are three media links:

Article in Istanbul's most prominent newspaper, The Hurriyet Daily News

Interview in Timeout Istanbul, Istanbul's widest read English only entertainment guide

Turkey's dean of travel writers, Tom Brosnahan, praises the Tangents Turkey Music Tour

Hot off the Press: 2010 Tangents Turkey Music Tour CD Sampler is yours for the asking

 

The Tangents Turkey Music Tour is in its 6th year and the 2010 spring tour takes place May 4-20. There will be 10 concerts in 16 nights reflecting the rich diversity of the Turkish/Anatolian music scene. We also experience a range of concert settings from intimate living room size to formal concert halls,  and even a 2000 year old cave church. 

Normally, artists nail down their concerts 1-2 months prior to the tour. However, this tour is coming together earlier than usual. We have already arranged for the legendary Alevi folk singer Sabahat Akkiraz. Sabahat was the first artist I discovered on my initial visit to Turkey and was the catalyst for my love for Turkish music.

Additionally, Roma (Gypsy) music will be featured a couple of times during the tour. First we'll dive into a wild Roma festival and later in the tour we'll likely see Turkey's top Roma (Gypsy) clarinetist, Selem Sesler. He is one of the stars in the documentary (easy to rent) Crossing the Bridge:The Sound of Istanbul. Check out this video from the film.

Additionally, we'll have a fun percussion performance/workshop with the legendary Okay Temiz. He is an amazing character and has been a big hit the last two tours. There will also be a Whirling Dervish Sema ceremony. One of the most memorable nights will be a candlelight concert in a 2000 year old cave church with regional musicians in Cappadocia.

One of the highlights of the 2009 tour was a duo concert with the extraordinarily versatile vocalist Sumru Agiryuruyen and rising star jazz guitarist Cenk Erdogan. Sumru wanted to perform for our group but neither of her two ensembles were available. I suggested she do a duo concert and Cenk was chosen. Sumru and Cenk had dinner with our group before the performance and then played together for the first time. It was an intimate setting, as we sat on a couch and some chairs a few feet from the stage in a living room sized venue. It went so well that they are currently rehearsing to record a cd together. Nothing gives me more pleasure than helping to bring musicians together and have magic result.  Although nothing is official,  I have a sense that Sumru and Cenk will be involved with the 2010 tour.

I'll update this space as more concerts come together.

The Tangents tour also includes travel to the other worldly Cappadocia, the wondrous ruins of Ephesus and picnicking by the Aegean Sea.

More tour information is linked near the top and bottom of this page including newly updated testimonial and itinerary pages, along with philosophy, accommodation and fine print.

There are many factors that combine for a terrific experience. Among the most important are group camaraderie, concerts and the Turkish people. The term "Turkish hospitality" was coined for a reason. No matter how much this is emphasized prior to our trip, the experience of meeting such a warm people deeply touches folks on the Tangents tour.

Tangents Turkey tour member Steve Basile put it this way:

"In every city and town I found people welcoming Americans, and uniformly amazed/puzzled/annoyed by the guy in the White House. (editor note: Bush at the time.) People in large cities and small towns had no problem distinguishing friendly American visitors from the man who happens to be running the government. At no time did I feel unsafe or insecure.

It was an eye-opening trip. From the first call to prayer I heard at 5am (and five times a day, every day) to the many mosques I visited, I was surrounded with and impressed by Islamic culture. I was forced, by immersion to expand and enlarge my personal definition of Islam and of Muslims.

I am reminded of what a co-worker told me years ago when I came out to him as a gay man: "Because of you, I have to redefine what I have always thought "gay" meant all these years." So do I have to redefine what Muslim has meant to me all these years, and I can tell you from my experience they are as varied and pleasant a group of people as any I have encountered.

All I can say is visit. Go someplace outside your comfort zone and see what you see, learn what you'll learn, feel what you feel, then decide for yourself.

When I told people I was going to Turkey for vacation, they almost always asked 'Why?' Now I know."

I'll leave it to Mark Twain to get in the last word:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

peace through travel and music,

Dore