Baba Zula
The unrivalled masters of 21st century Turkish psychedelic music play their own compositions with such a heavy dose of improvisation that every gig becomes very different than the one before attracting and pushing fans to experience more and more shows just like Deadheads.
Born in Istanbul in 1996, BaBa ZuLa features founding members Levent Akman (spoons, percussions, machines, toys), Murat Ertel (electric saz and other stringed instruments, vocals, theremin), as well as darbuka and percussion player Ümit Adakale and Esma Ertel on vocals and dancing.
Apart from them there is a 5th member changing accordingly it can be Veys Colak or Olcay Bozkurt on bass guitar or Periklis Tsoukalas on baritone electric oud.
BaBa ZuLa go to great lengths to provide their fans with a unique live show experience. Their ritual like performances are a mixture of disciplines of art, often featuring belly dancers, elaborate costumes, poetry and theatre delivering viewers a tantalizing audio-visual feast.
By mixing oriental instruments such as darbuka, electric saz, finger cymbals and spoons with electronics and modern sounds and retro Turkish drum machines, BaBa ZuLa creates a sound they have started on all their own called İstanbul Psychedelia.
The unique electric saz designed specially by Ertel himself together with a wooden spoon can serve as musical compass to Turkish musical roots going as far back as pre-Islamic, shamanic times, through Anatolia and silk and spice road culture and legends reaches all the way up to present-day Istanbul.
Despite sounds that might initially come to mind when one hears a phrase like “Oriental Dub” with which some critics try to define them; BaBa ZuLa’s music is in fact Psychedelic Istanbul Rock’n Roll with such a ’roll’ element that vibrates in a way that westerners haven’t heard so frequently since the late ’60s .
BaBa ZuLa share their legacy with us through their music, a music born out of Istanbul.
