• country:
  Turkey
• style(s):
  Electronic Fusion
• label:
  Doublemoon Records
• type:
  Composer/Songwriter, DJ/Remixer
• gender:
  male
• instrumentation:
  instrumental
• artist submitted by:
  Doublemoon Records

With his unique fusion of Turkish music and other oriental musical influences (i.e. Persian and Indian) with electronic music, the Turkish ney and bendir player, DJ and producer Mercan Dede is one of the leading world music artists in Turkey, Europe and North America. His albums, "Seyahatname" ("Travelogue") and "Nar" , emerging as remarkable works of acoustic- electronic music, backed by performances of musicians from diverse cultures and traditions. His 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. On his most recent work "Breath ", Mercan Dede carries out an organic fusion that captures the magic of the East, mystical elements, electronic tones and traditional instrumentation.
The album comes to life with the help of his musician friends: Canadian Ben Grosman plays the extremely rare Hurdy Gurdy saz and contributes to Breathe through special recording session from Toronto together with Hugh Marsh who returns with his violin. Mercan Dede accompanies trombone player Steve Turre by playing sea shells. Magical songstress Aynur Dogan and Iranian vocalist Azam Ali breathe life into the songs on the album. Kani Karaca is eulogized with an ode read by a famous mevlithan who "Worships with his voice". In addition, we bear witness to Mercan Dede's first foray into being a vocalist.

Prestigious Festivals such as Montreal Jazz Festival, Womex, Festival de Trans Musicales and Banlieus Bleus, Arezzo, Montreux Jazz Festival, World Roots Festival, Rhythm Sticks Festival and more than 104 shows in Vienna, Geneva, Brussels, Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam and Istanbul have witnessed Mercan Dede and his latest project Secret Tribe's powerful live performances. Mercan Dede's US 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 most recently in 2005 in the Club Global category.

With the album "Su" he stayed 1 on European World Music Charts for two months (November- December 2004). His latest album "Breath" seizes 1 spot on European World Music Charts in June 2006. He recently finished his 2005 European tour which includes 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 ), Wychwood Festival ( UK) ..

Links

• Mercan Dede Website