Mercan Dede Sufi Spirit & Soul

Mavi Boncuk

Global Rhythm Magazine
Banning Eyre
Friday, August 06, 2004
Mercan Dede Sufi Spirit & Soul


Full Text: Mercan Dede's Letters of a Journey

Mercan Dede and Secret Tribe's debut U.S. performance came nestled within a world music marathon at the Public Theatre in New York. On a chilly night last January, 16 acts performed on three stages as part of the first GlobalFest music showcase. It was an overwhelming night of music, but when it was over, much of the buzz focused on the Turkish electronica act with youung man playing classical instruments kanun-darbuka-saxophone over hypnotic dance beats, and that extraordinary dervish dancer, whirling and posing in a performance that was part of Sufi ritual and part modern dance. The dance culminated in a moment when rope of lavender light sewn into her white gown suddenly illuminated, adding a psychedelic accent to a surprising moving even ecstatic 40 minute set-

Until that moment. Mercan Dede had been a well-kept catching fire in Europe and Canada in recent years. Now with the U.S. release of a double-CD, Suf Traveler (Mi;), and a summer 2004 tour of American cities, the buzz that started at GlobalFest is spreading fast.

World music electronica can easily trivialize its source material,reducing indigenous traditions to ear candy sweetening up well-worn dance grooves But anyone who watched 18-year old Cihan Lekezsizgöz tear into the kanun zither , or Hüseyin Ceylan playing virtuose darbuka rhythms in a man- meets machine duel with a flood of electronic beats , realized instantly that Mercan Dede and Secret Tribe operate on a level all their own.