Baraná is the musical crossover concept of Turkish singer/instrumentalist Behsat Üvez and Dutch reed player Steven Kamperman. It involves a series of projects, starting in 2002 with a composition assigned for the big ensemble Baraná & Co.
Baraná champions new music that contains lots of diversity and playful improvisations, but never forgets its age-old roots.
An interesting feature of Baraná is the broad taste of the leaders Behsat Üvez and Steven Kamperman. Their basic ingredients may be Turkish and Dutch, the resulting flavours surpass all categories. Especially striking is the exciting communication between the musicians. The music can go anywhere anytime.
A recurrent feature of the Baraná-ensembles is 'the meeting': the meeting of old and new music, the meeting of east and west, the meeting of composition and improvisation, the meeting of strong musical personalities. In these meetings, Baraná combines the strength of tradition with the vitality of modern music, thus creating an unheard-of language.
Is it Turkish Music? European Music? Is it Jazz? Is it Old music, or would you say it's New? Is it Composed or Improvised? Is it a group, or different groups?
Behsat Üvez and Steven Kamperman about their music, history and intentions.
|
Behsat: 'When I was young I used to be a museum guardian... not literally ofcourse, but musically. I absorbed as much Turkish folk music as I could retain. I played in different folk music ensembles like Tüfem and Halkevleri, and consequently I played in the Turkish State ensemble for nine years. I learned about everything there is to be learned about Turkish folk songs and dances, and tried to preserve the tradition. When I first came to the Netherlands, in 1989, I performed with the very good Dutch folk band Orient Express, broadening my scope towards balkan music. Later, I started to get interested in modern music: there used to be a vibrant jazz scene in Groningen, the town I live in up north, with interesting musicians like Gerard Ammerlaan and Alan Laurillard. They changed my thinking about music.' |
Steven: 'For me it was exactly the other way around... I used to play modern jazz, a bit at the free side of the spectrum. When I once heard the French group Le Bucher de silence, I was absorbed by their music, but could not place it at all. Slowly, I discovered it was some kind of modern folk music, that tickled my soul. later, it was not only modern folk music that inspired me, but all the great traditional folk and non-western classical music. Especially of Turkey, because it is a very interesting crossroads of Asian, Balkan and Arabic influences.' |
|
Behsat: 'When I was asked to fulfill a composition assignment for the Music Meeting Nijmegen in 2002 (CD Live at the Music Meeting) I was sure of two things: I wanted to ask Steven to join me (who I had acqainted in the Global Village Orchestra), and I wanted it to be a project with a new approach towards traditional music. I wanted to get out of the traditional ABC song forms. I wanted to change the structures, fool around with Turkish elements, introducing other influences, but at the same time preserving the strength of the Turkish folk music.' |
Steven: 'There was a click immediately. We both share a love for the tradition, and at the same time a drive towards fresh new music.' |
|
Behsat: 'It's hard to classify what we do, because it does not fit in the usual boxes. It could not have been created without knowing Turkish music thoroughly, but I consider it as Dutch music at the same time. The Dutch approach towards jazz is all present, mixing all kind of influences, and also the joy of turning the rules of music around. You could call that typically Dutch, I guess.' |
Steven: 'Every project we do has a theme. Take for instance our trio record The Rose and the Nightingale, about eternal impossible love. There are many old textes to be found about this theme. From that point on, it's like a caleidoscope. We like contrasts. We try to find a balance in different approaches towards the same theme. Together they tell a story. If you listen to just one Baraná-track, you probably will not capture the essence.' |
|
Behsat: 'We like to re-invent ourselves as well. What's the use of repeating the same trick again and again? So we do different projects with different themes, that inspire us to search for new ways. We study new and old music. Central in the concept of Baraná is the meeting: playing with guest musicians keeps us fresh. They confront us with other ideas, that influence our way of thinking.' |
Steven: 'But our music has a clear identity as well. There are some characteristics that are always present. Our music always has a modal approach, be it the Turkish/Arabic maqams, or European church scales. We manipulate these modes, change them, for instance by mirroring techniques. Or we oppose different modes. We do harmonize, but the starting point is never classic harmonic theory, the one you find from Mozart to Mahler. It's not regular jazz harmony either. Some critics point out it is not jazz, because there are no blue notes or standard jazz licks. So what if it is not jazz? There is a lot of improvisation, depending heavily on the jazz tradition, and there are in fact a lot of blue notes, but maybe not from an American perspective.' |
| Behsat: 'And then there is the rich Turkish rhythmic tradition that is underlying the music. Though we do some pretty untraditional things with that too...' |
Steven: 'I guess what people experience is our esthetic view. We like a good melody, but not if it's always played in a sweet way. If you play beautiful melodies continuously, they tend to become flat. It's like with perfumes: there is always a less polished element in the really good ones... We like the Asian roughness, we like small disturbing details, we like things to get out of hand once in a while. But we come back, we always come back.' |