OMAR FARUK (WITH JOSÉ ANTONIO RODRÍGUEZ)

Mediterranean celebration

Candela Olivo. Córdoba, 9 July, 2002

Artists. Omar Faruk Tekbilek: singing and music. Shai Bachar: keyboards. Emmanuel Mann: bass. Benny Koonyevsky: drums, percussion. Bahadir Sener: kanun. Murat Tekbilek: percussion. José Antonio Rodríguez (guest artist): flamenco guitar. Caballerizas Reales. Córdoba, July 9, 2002. Midnight.

Omar Faruk Tekbilek (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

With the simple goal of displaying their musical skills on stage, the versatile Turkish musician and vocalist Omar Faruk and his band were to be found together with the flamenco guitarist José Antonio in Córdoba Rodríguez late one summer's night. The appearance by the Cordoban guitarist with the six-piece band was a brief one as he joined in on just the final two songs. And in that short time he showed not just that there are clear links between the different music of the Mediterranean, but also that artistic understanding is something that comes very naturally. José Antonio Rodríguez played live one of the two tracks, which he contributed to on the Turkish artist's last album: 'Alif' (Resistencia, 2001). That song, taken by Faruk from the classic Turkish and Greek tradition, was the one they chose to do for the encore. The song, played in three-four time, contained a friendly duel between the Turkish artist's ud and the Cordoban's bajañí. Call and response... with each one in his place.

The guitarist then got his own back for the previous song, which had been used for the obligatory introduction of the band. His contribution had been reduced to a few melodic touches amongst the technical exhibitions from each member of the group and, of course, the director of the whole orchestra Faruk, who not only played the derbuka and the flute, but also sang. The invitation to José Antonio Rodríguez, whom Faruk got to know through his recordings with Paco de Lucía before he actually met him in person, was, he explained, a way "of celebrating the Mediterranean culture together."

The celebration had begun some time before under a star-filled sky in the historic building that had been included as a new venue for the 22nd edition of the Guitar Festival. The sextet came with the aim of presenting 'Alif'... 'A' from the Arabic alphabet, the initial of Allah, and the reference point for the Sufi philosophy that imbues Omar Faruk's work: "Peace is to be found inside us". And one of the ways to find it is through music, which is "the source of beauty." The band touches on the full range of Mediterranean music with classical, Sufi, traditional and contemporary influences. The key is the musical quality of the sextet which is reminiscent of Paco de Lucía's septet in terms of its understanding and compact playing, but not in terms of any real flamenco influence. With the honourable exception of Omar Faruk's gurgling vocals and the basic rhythm of some of the traditional songs there was no hiding the essential differences in style.

Omar Faruk Tekbilek and José Antonio Rodríguez
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

revista@flamenco-world.com