Further to my series on blind musicians, and on Turkish culture, Muammer Ketencoğlu (b.1964), based in Istanbul, is a popular performer and collector of folk music from west Anatolia and the Balkans, including rebetika. Besides fronting his own band, collaborating with a range of musicians, he has hosted the weekly radio programme Tuna’nın Beri Yanı since 1995. His website is useful, and he’s on Twitter.
A few tracks to whet your appetite (more here):
In a thoughtful interview on rebetika in Istanbul (cf. Songs of Asia Minor), he mentions the reception in Turkey of the 1983 film Rembetiko (see Road to rebetika).
- Istanbul: between Orient and Occident, playlist:
- Ayde Mori, playlist:
- Karanfilin Moruna (booklet), playlist:
- From Balkan journey:
- Sandığımdan Rumeli Türküleri (booklet), playlist:
- On film, a trailer for Whose is this song? (Adela Peeva, 2003):
- A TV show:
Sevdalinka:
See also Musical cultures of east Europe, and Folk traditions of Greece; and click here for Annie Proulx’s great ethnomusicological novel Accordion crimes.
Stephen Jones: a blog 