Istanbul Oriental Ensemble

In his native Turkey, Burhan Öçal is a media star, as widely know for his numerous fashion spreads in magazines and his collection of vintage American automobiles as for the music he makes. Beyond the Bosphorus, however, his reputation comes from working with artists like jazz man Joe Zawinul and leading his own gypsy group, the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble.

"For this band, all the music must feel traditional," he explained. "It has to be a very gypsy sound, and an Istanbul oriental sound."

The 10 year-old band is one of the few closely preserving the style of real Turkish gypsy music, Öçal explains, since "this old sound and style is hardly played any more." But on their tour, he adds, they will include "some old classical Turkish love songs."

"For this band, all the music must feel traditional."

Öçal's love affair with gypsy music began as a child, growing up in the village of Kirkareli, "the gypsy center of the world," 100 miles west of Istanbul, and hearing the lush, exotic tunes and songs played at weddings. But his true moment of epiphany came when he was six years old. For his circumcision party, he asked his father to provide a loud gypsy band "so no one would hear me cry. Since then I've been involved in this music."

While an adept multi-instrumentalist, in the Ensemble Öçal sticks to the vase-shaped darbuka drum, helping to provide a rhythmic backdrop for the fiery melodies and soaring improvisations by violin, clarinet, oud, and the zither-like kanun. Of all the tracks on Caravanserai, however, it's the more meditative "Ya Kerim!" dedicated to the band's late clarinetist, Ferdi Nadaz, which is closest to his heart.

"I knew he was dying while we were recording," recalled Öçal. "I wrote the text for him, and told the producer I wanted to record it, without telling him why. So he sang this song, and it was like a ceremony. Ten days later he died."

Whether working in the classical field, getting down in a funk project with renowned bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma, or exploring the limits of drum'n'bass, Öçal definitely makes "art music, not pop music for crowds."

But working on the fringes hasn't stopped him becoming a minor celebrity at home, showing off his restored ‘48 Dodge and ‘55 Chevy Belair on national television, or appearing in his modish clothes in the pages of Elle and other magazines. The only drawback, he notes, is that "I have to buy so many clothes now!"

Fame and fashion aside, music is what matters to him, especially the gypsy romance that has touched him so deeply. "I play a lot of different things," he announced, "but this is my specialty. It's my soul."

Istanbul Oriental Ensemble

"For this band, all the music must feel traditional."

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