http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCKzdFh_CQA&mode=related&search=

This is an interesting but strange english mix... I really love the nay and drums though in M. Dede's songs, the compositions are just amazing. It is meant as religious music, is that right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercan_Dede

Mercan Dede has been criticised by Turkish music purists for not being steeped in the sufi traditions and for not properly representing sufism in his music and writings (such as the liner notes to Seyahatname quoted below). [1] Other criticism has been that the whirling dancers he uses to accompany his shows do not accurately display the correct dervish routines. But then he more than just a ney player, working just as often as a DJ as performing live in concert, and his audience is clubbers not islamic scholars, and he aims for a synthetic music not a historically pure music.

He is my cousin. His music did not appeal to me in the beginning either. Remembering his childhood I'd hardly expect him to have become the spiritually mature man he appears to be now. He has always been criticized for his ney playing. It is generally accepted that there are much better performers of the instrument in Turkey. Nevertheless, the world seems to prefer the way he plays it. He works with some very skilled musicians and he is adept at mixing a host of musical elements to produce a unique musical sound. I would expect this sound to appeal only to foreigners who would welcome a soft fusion of sufi music with popular musical elements. We Turks have a habit of admiring what others admire in us in an unproportionate way. For example, there are thousands of Turks who don't have the first idea about classical music yet they seem to like it when Fazil Say plays it. That's another proof that Turks are crazy about being admired. Having said this, I wish the shortcomings of some other cultures were as benign as this little flaw.

Music can be magical and endless, it comes from higher dimentions to our heart and soul.

Not all music is like that Roswitha, only some.

Turkey's Dede retires from music BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7015907.stm

BBC Article :

"Unique blend

Born into a poor family in western Turkey as Arkin Ilicali, Dede now divides his time between Istanbul and Montreal.

He first travelled to Canada to study visual arts and developed a following there as DJ Arkin Allen before creating Mercan Dede more than a decade ago. "


There are some errors that need to be corrected here:

Arkın Ilıcalı (Mercan Dede) was born in Bursa in 1966 (I was born in 1967 and my name is Akin Ilicali) to an upper middle class family. He had a chance to travel in Europe and get to know their cultures. By all definitions of the word his family was affluent. They lived in a better part of Bursa and were very outgoing types.

My father is skilled at playing many different instruments including ney. He had been making experiments making neys from pipes used in sanitary installations correctly drilling the holes to make them sound good. He was the one who taught him how to make his own and also assisted him with his ney playing when he developed an interest in the instrument. Presently, my father is a little bitter because he has never given him any credit for that.

In front of Arkin's house was a "tekke". As a child he played games in the street around that tekke and probably out of curiousity went in to have his first encounter with the dervishes who contemplated in there.

Arkin was an achiever, he won several tournaments as a table tennis player when he was a teenager.

In his university years in Istanbul, he was more or less a wanderer. Then he resembled Jesus Christ with his long hair and whiskers. It was very evident that he was looking for something other than what life seemed to be preparing for him. After graduating from Press and Public Relations Faculty which was next to my school, he went to Canada and made a marriage of minds with a Canadian woman. He was good at Turkish folk dances, photography and ebru (a turkish decorative art made by arranging oily dyes of various colors that float on the surface of water and by transfering them on a cardboard. you need to google that).
He made a living by teaching Canadians how to make ebru, do Turkish folk dances and by selling his photographs.

Then you know what happened.

Thank you Akin for explaining M. Dedes personal background. Appreciated! Quite an insights.

Thanks for the info, it was very interesting.

Well it looks like the press and public relations education helped him get his resume "tuned". It must be upsetting to his family to read they were poor. Thanks for the information. By the way, I love Ebru.

Goksel Baktagir is my favorite actually. Have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB9CY40jK9I

Goksel Baktagir

<<<<<<<<<< "" Olaganustu yetenek "" >>>>>>>>>

Femme be true to your own suggestion and don't jump in whenever there is a chance to flame me.

I don't know any person or culture that does not like being admired. Who would like to be held in disdain? Would one who prefers to be held in disdain be considered emotionally healthy?

Oh! Yeah! Now that we are getting irrelevant here is a link you'd like more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53YIGn32JrQ

What do you find so narcissistic about that? He said "some". Certainly there are "some" with much greater flaws, don't you agree? Or do you think otherwise?

Quoting catwoman: Quoting vineyards: That's another proof that Turks are crazy about being admired. Having said this, I wish the shortcomings of some other cultures were as benign as this little flaw. That narcissistic? Unbelievable!