Music: Karsu
One of the things I like to do is to give music recommendations. However my taste does not really appeal to everyone, it’s not exactly mainstream most of the time. Me raving about canto-pop or raï never gets a lot of traction. People wonder how I can enjoy the lyrics of music which I do not even understand on a basic level. But, language should not be a barrier ever, on the contrary, it is territory to explore. I listen to stuff I often do not get a word of, but the music and the passion of the artist pulls me into certain tunes like nothing else. When songs really intrigue me I will dive into Google translate to understand the song or search up lyrics translations online. And they help, for instance I often use Naomi Shemer videos to get my Hebrew to a better than basic level (not easy btw).
Anyway, one artist has really moved me the last little while and most, but not all, of her work is also not readily followable as it is in Turkish. But she’s taking some audiences by storm around the world - she performed at Carnegie Hall a few times - and her talent is truly unparalleled. She’s of Turkish descent, grew up in The Netherlands and learned to sing while performing in her parents’ restaurant in Amsterdam. Karsu Dönmez’s music can be best be described as a mixture of jazz, soul, and Turkish folk music. She sings in Turkish and English, and sometimes even in Dutch. You have to hear it to appreciate it, the live version of ‘Jest Oldu’ which is one of her biggest hits, gives you a good flavour (watch the whole thing):
Digging into her background I came across an interview where she explained how when she was growing up she was trying to interpret the notes and structures of Turkish songs. She could not make sense of it and told her mother that she would actually do the song in a different way, a way that would be more logical to her. Her mother then encouraged her to do exactly that and create her own interpretation of the song. This anecdote not only points to how she was brought up - great parents I’d say - but in particular to her incredible talent and innate feel for music. It comes across through all of her songs which she takes in many different and pretty unique directions. Each song is another journey. And she’s just getting started it seems. This is in English and jazzy, ‘Reloading my Mind’, nicely set by the way along the canals of Amsterdam. I can’t stop listening to it:
Check out Karsu. She also does a series of culinary videos. And she’s passionate about Ahmet Ertegün the Turkish-American media tycoon to whom she paid homage by performing a variety of Atlantic Records songs. She refers to him here in this short video and you can spot her Dutch accent when she explains it all in English.
The Karsu experience is just something else. She wrapped up a US tour recently, but I am hoping she will come to the west coast at some point and visit Vancouver. Lot of Turkish and Dutch immigrants here who will no doubt show up for her lively performances and nerve touching music.