An Azeri song. Heartbroken lovers, one proposing to reconcile and start talking  to each other again.... 'Hey curly hair, don't stay apart, come my dearest, don't be cross let us make peace, let's talk again'

Ay Sacı Burma - a duet by Fidan Hajiyeva & Onur Can Aslan

An Azeri song about the beautiful black eyes of a loved one:  'Since I was scorched by the gaze of the beautiful black eyes, flames won't hurt me'

Bahcalarda Barim Var by Fidan Hajiyeva

This is an Alevi song by a contemporary trubadour Dertli Divani. He was declared a 'Living Human Treasure' of the World's Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
http://www.dertlidivani.com/

Erenler Cemi - Lyrics & Music by Dertli Divani

A medley of wedding dance songs. Originally in Kurmanji Kurdish. These Turkish versions are called Agri Dagindan Uctum (I flew over the Agri/Ararat Mountain and landed over grass meadows), Toycular and Mardin Kapi (Mardin Gates of Diyarbakir). Halay is a line dance and also the name of the song typically accompanies that type of dance.

Halay Medley

Küstürdüm Barışamam - Vocals: Onur Can Aslan Baglama: Hamit Sag

Karagöz - Bahçalarda Barım Var

Vardar Ovasi

Yemenimde Hare Var

The Nefes Ensemble was founded in London in 2009 by Gönül Tekin Ekmekci and led by İskender Ozan Toprak (2009-2011), Hamit Sağ (2011-2015 including our Womad gig),  Salman Aybars (2016, 2018 & 2019)and Erdal Ünsalan (2017).
Nefes performs folk music from Turkey, accompanied by traditional folk instruments. 
The word ‘Nefes’ means breath, soul and self as well as being the name of a certain form of poetry/song in sufi Alevi-Bektaşi tradition in Turkey. 
One of the group’s key aims has been to sing the folk songs in their traditional forms, respecting the regional details and languages as much as possible. 

Nefes is currently formed of a trio of vocals collaborating with various musicians especially with bağlama and percussion players as well as the performers of other traditional wind and string instruments, happy to embrace new concepts linked with traditional music of Turkey and the nearby regions.

Nefes Ensemble

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