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):

• Memories of Izmir/Smyrna recollections (booklet), playlist:

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.