Updated March 6, 2010

Concert planning for the Tangents Turkey Music Tour is heating up. A flurry of outstanding shows have come together so quickly that the tour dates were shifted to max out the concert opportunities. This is the benefit of being a small operation that can adjust on the fly. For the first time the tour will be 17 nights.  Already my two first choices have been nailed down. However, we need five sign-ups by March 15 for the tour to be a "go".

A high profile endorsement recently arrived from top world music magazine Songlines . Its editor is Simon
Broughton who is also co-editor of the Rough Guide to World Music and a noted documentary filmmaker.

This is what Simon says (pun intended)  on the Songlines website about the Tangents Turkey Music Tour:

"There are few countries as spectacular as Turkey for history and hospitality, for landscapes and food, and for magnificent music. We've been wanting to develop a Turkish music trip for a while but, to be honest, it would be pretty hard to beat the itinerary that Dore Stein has put together for Tangents."

"Rather than set-up a Songlines Music Travel trip in competition, I think it's better to recommend a top-quality alternative. I've known Dore for several years, we've discussed Turkish music and he's refined this trip over five years building-up relationships with many of the best musicians like clarinettist Selim Sesler, Alevi singer Sabahat Akkiraz and instrument inventor and percussionist Okay Temiz..."

Click here to read more...

Below are three more noteworthy media links: (all live links)

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

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

Profile by Tom Brosnahan, Turkey's dean of travel writers + curator of Turkeytravelplanner.com

Now available: 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 9-26. There will be at least 10 concerts in 17 nights (previous tours have been 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 in unprecedented fashion. I'm thrilled if one of my top choices can be pulled off. This year already my top two choices have been confirmed. Legendary Alevi folk singer Sabahat Akkiraz will open the 2010 tour!  I think it's fair to say she is to Turkey what Joan Baez is to American folk music. Sabahat was the first artist I discovered on my initial visit to Turkey and was the catalyst for my love for Turkish music.

My other top choice Goksel Baktagir, was a favorite during the 2008 tour. He is Turkey's most respected and in demand kanunist. This ensemble includes my good friend and remarkably versatile singer Sumru Agiryuruyen. In addition to Turkish, songs will be sung in a variety of languages including Ladino, Kurdish, Greek, Armenian, etc.

Sumru was one of the favorites of the 2009 tour. She did a duo concert with 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. As mentioned earlier Sumru will be involved in the May, 2010 tour and although nothing is official,  I have a sense that Cenk will be also.

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.

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 must be 5 sign-ups by March 15 or the May tour will be cancelled.

You can lock in the $4090 Early Bird Rate through March 15 or reserve a spot by sending
a $500 non-refundable deposit. (If the tour is cancelled or dates change, all payments are 100% refundable.)

Make checks out to "Tangents Radio"and send to:

Dore Stein/Tangents Radio
301 Gambier St.
San Francisco, CA 94134-1341

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