a r t i s t : Saadet Turkoz
t i t l e : Urumchi
d a t e : 2005
l a b e l : Intakt
g e n r e : Other
r l s. d a t e : May/2007
t r a c k s : 14
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 53,9 MB
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There are coincidences. When I was twenty, in the darkest part
of the Soviet era, I traveled to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and
came back with many records of native folk music. I could not
have suspected then that I would one day meet a singer from
Turkistan in Zurich. I was driven to Central Asia by a desire
to get away: to steppes and deserts, to the cities and routes
of the legendary Silk Road, which had always excited my
imagination. What names: Bukhoro, Samarqand, Khiva, Alma-Ata.
What a mix of peoples: Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kirgiz, Turkmen,
Uigurs. As if all of Central Asia were one great caravanserai,
framed by the snow-covered mountain ranges of the Altai, the
Pamir, and the Tian Shan.
I remember the searing heat in Tashkent, shadowy tea houses,
colorful markets, the gigantic apple plantations around the
Kazakh capital of Alma-Ata, varied faces under varied hats and
headscarves, and the music that cast a spell on my ears. Its
melancholy monotony opened the spaces of my longing.
And suddenly, decades later, the voice of Saadet Tⁿrk÷z. Even
voices can hit home, deep inside, and be so touching that
worlds open up. Yes, there it is again, the Kazakh lullaby,
the love song, the dirge. There it is, but new, different.
Saadet sings lushly and gently, with girlish whimsy and
womanly warmth, with long breath and a timbre that touches on
all moods. Exhilaration becomes sorrow, and even sometimes an
abyss; the voice ù full and sustaining a moment ago ù sinks
away, and out of the confident, extended and vibrating thirds
comes a descending, unfathomable glissando.
One wonders how Saadet Tⁿrk÷z conjures up such richness out of
the almost childish simplicity of some melodies. The answer
can only be this: she trusts her voice. And the many voices
around her. She is consciously part of the Kazakh folk-music
tradition, from which she also gets her improvisational talent
(which is not at all a paradox). And nobody would dare to
claim that she flirts with ethno-sounds. For her, her
background is an obligation and at the same time a code for
longingùhomeland as unending search.
Saadet comes from a Kazakh family from eastern Turkistan,
which was annexed by China (along with its capital Urumchi)
and now belongs to the province of Sinkiang. Her parents fled
to Istanbul, where Saadet was born. She has been living in
Zurich for a long time now. The paths of her musical self-
discovery are as complex as the geographical and cultural
coordinates of her origin. In her sensitive move "back to the
roots," Saadet Tⁿrk÷z keeps getting closer and closer to
herself.
Some of the songs on this CD were recorded in Almaty (formerly
Alma-Ata), others in Beijing, always accompanied by Kazakh
musicians. Stillness comes from this music, as if it were
touching timeless, archaic feelings. Nothing seems feigned,
pretentious, or forced. No technical embellishment is
involved; what counts is the pure voice, the voice with its
astonishing expressiveness.
There cannot be anything more exciting, or anything more
moving. The steppe has long since begun to appear before us, a
bride has long since begun to cry, and the bird of happiness
is moving into the distance. We are in the middle of life and
its mysteries, in the universe of Saadet Tⁿrk÷z.
Karsiga Ahmediyar Dombra on 2, 3, 6, 10
Sayan Akmolda Kilkobuz, Dombra on 1, 5, 7, 8, 13
Talgat Mushik Sazsirnay, Shankobuz, Sibizgi on 5, 8
Selim Kerey Sidiyik Dombra on 9, 11, 12
Mamer Rayeskhan Dombra on 14
Almagⁿl Davletkalieva K╢lkbobuz on 4
Eldar Saparayeva Cello on 4b
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01-Tansamalim [04:12]
02-Siloezen [04:55]
03-Sinnaray [06:21]
04-Elimay [02:06]
05-Alis [03:04]
06-Akbukal [06:14]
07-Kuey [03:10]
08-Kadisa [04:21]
09-Dudaray [04:14]
10-Nurgisa [03:30]
11-Kuva Bol [03:02]
12-Akcayik [03:21]
13-Kamila [03:43]
14-Kunnan [03:05]
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55:18 min