Gültekin KAAN

Gültekin Kaan is linking Anglo-American pop culture with Turkish classical and folk music. The - indeed most poetic - Turkish lyrics tell us stories, which might as well have emerged from the famous fairy tales of "1001 Nights." - Ever reflecting in the visual appearance of the band on stage: Meet the sultan – dressed in magnificent oriental robes – and his court of grand viziers, pashas, emirs, his lifeguards, and, last but not least, his harem and belly dancers.

After touring for more than a decade on stages throughout Europe, Gültekin Kaan published his album "1001 Divan" in Turkey at We Play/Sony Music in 2011.

In 2012, his album "Sofra" was released worldwide by Blue Flame/Rough Trade. The thirteen songs have all been written by Gültekin Kaan, except two of them, which are famous Turkish traditionals, replete with new lyrics. The usual rock 'n' roll lineup of guitars, bass & drums is complemented with oriental instruments such as the bağlama (a Turkish long-neck lute), kanun (oriental zither), keman (oriental violin), and oriental percussions, such as darbuka, bendir, davul, and tabla.

The album has been recorded in Germany and Turkey by top-notch musicians of their countries, a lot of whom have been working with the who's who of their music scenes - Xavier Naidoo, Curse, Gentleman, Doug Wimbish, Sezen Aksu, İbrahim Tatlıses, Natacha Atlas, and many more. The guys, by the way, loved the music so much that they have become steady members of Kaan's court.