1 - Sevval Sam - Ben Seni Sevdiğumi - Karadeniz - Turkey - Kalan - CD 454
2 - Kardes Turkuler - Kara Uzum Habbesi - Dogu - Turkey - Kalan - CD 141
3 - Turkulerle - Basina Dondugum - IIeri - Turkey - Kalan
4 - Aynur - Ahmedo - in session - Turkey
5 - Aynur - Desmala Min - in session - Turkey
6 - Aynur - Olursem Kabrime Gelme - Kece Kurdan - Turkey - Kalan - CD 293
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The way things turned out, I prefer this second of the two programmes recorded on location in Istanbul with producer Dana Stevens. Partly, or even mainly, this is down to the quality of the performances by Aynur, the Kurdish singer whom I first met at WOMEX Seville in 2006. I remember wondering, when she was featured on the cover of fRoots some months before that, could anybody so beautiful also be a great singer? Here in person, she obviously was both. And now in Istanbul I became trapped in the powerful beam of her gaze again, even though we shared no language and could not communicate directly. Ahmet, the interpreter did a terrific job in conveying Aynur’s thoughts and comments, and afterwards Dana and I spent time with Aynur and her English-speaking sister Aysun (who has become her manager), absorbing what it feels like to be a Kurdish singer in a country which has for so long denigrated Kurdish artists and denied access to the media.

Sevval Sam and CG at Mephisto Record store, Istanbul
Earlier, we met Sevval Sam who turned out to be a terrific guide and spokesperson for the programme. I only knew Sevval (pronounced Sheval) through her performances on the Up Bustle & Out album, Istanbul Secrets, and had contacted her via MySpace at the last minute, a day before we left London, wondering if she might be in Istanbul. Indeed she was, and came to meet us in the lobby of a big hotel on Taxim Square. As we walked down Istiklal, almost every passerby glanced towards Sevval, who explained that she had played one of the main characters in a TV series six years ago, playing a character from the Black Sea region. In character, she sang a couple of typical Black Sea songs, which led to everybody telling her she should record a whole album in this style. She finally did so in June last year, and the album Karadeniz has been in the national top 10 ever since, selling 70,000 legitimate copies for the Kalan record label despite countless bootlegs. As we entered the Mephisto record shop, there was Sevval’s voice already playing on the in-store speakers. As soon as the guy behind the counter realised who had come in, he played a sequence of tracks from all her albums.

Sevval Sam explains how you shake that thing.
By featuring Aynur and Sevval as well as an interview with Kalan’s director Hasan Saltik, the programme turned into what amounts to a half-hour plug for Kalan, which caught the eye and ear of the World Service’s executive producers, concerned that we do not contravene the new BBC Compliance directives, under which each programme must be seen to be fair. Could any other comparable Turkish company complain that we should also be featuring them? It is safe to say that not only is there no comparable Turkish company, but perhaps no other company in the world which could match the extraordinary output of Kalan.

Aynur and her interrogator
As Hasan explained, the label was launched 20 years ago to put out records by protest singers, which led to contact with artists who were not overtly political but strongly regional. Kalan began putting out records representing the entire spectrum of Turkish regional music, some by current performers, others culled from archives of radio broadcasts which had never been released on CD before. Among the few labels with any comparable output would be Arhoolie in California, but the production of Kalan’s archive releases is closer to the quality of what the Smithsonian Institute does. Smithsonian is financed by government funds, but Kalan is a stand-alone commercial operation with no subsidies or grants. Truly unique and remarkable. www.kalan.com

Visitor with his host, Mehmet Umur
Incidentally, many thanks to Istanbul host Kevin Robins and his wife Asu Aksoy; it was Kevin who first introduced me to Doublemoon and Kalan last year and unwittingly provided the template for this visit six months later. And grateful thanks to Mehmet Umur of the hotel Ibrahim Pasha, unhesitatingly recommended as the place to stay, very close to the famous mosques. http://www.ibrahimpasha.com