Turkish music lovers know Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem from his albums, concerts and recordings he made with Turkish musicians such as Barbaros Erköse and Kudsi Erguner. However, it is less widely known that he opposed to the “world music” movement that made him visible on the listeners’ radars since the 1990s, he restored the oud instrument in a way that changed its perception in the West, he was politically sensitive, and he worked with movie makers that shared this sensitivity. Orhan Kahyaoğlu follows Brahem’s journey from when he started making music until now in his book, commenting about his albums and songs in detail. “Duru, Derin, Çıplak” is possibly the first text written in the book format on Anouar Brahem in the world.
Anouar Brahem was born in the city of Halfaouine in the Medina region of Tunisia in 20th of October, 1957. He started playing the oud with the encouragement of his engraver and calligraphist father when he was 10 years old and he worked with oud master Ali Sriti at Tunisia National Music Conservatoire. He started to write his own compositions and gave solo concerts in various cultural centers soon after.
The musician released an album with percussionist Lassad Hosni which was also produced by the latter musician. His travel to Paris in 1981 enabled him to meet many musicians of different genres. He worked with Maurice Béjart for the ballet called Thalassa Mare Nostrum and as a lute player for Costa Gavras‘s film Hanna K. with Gabriel Yared. He returned to Tunisia in 1985. Being invited to play during the Cartage Film Festival gave him the opportunity to put together the band called Liqua 85. The members of this band included Abdelwaheb Berbech, Erköse Brothers, François Jeanneau, Jean-Paul Celea, François Couturier and many others. The success of this project brought Brahem the National Music Award of Tunisia. He was appointed as the manager of Tunusia City Music Ensemble (EMVT) in 1987. His major works during this time were “Leïlatou Tayer” (1988) and “El Hizam El Dhahbi” (1989).
He returned to classical Arabic music with Rabeb (1989) and Andalousiat (1990). Ennaoura el achiqua left an impression on both the media and the people. He recorded Barzakh with Tunisian musicians Bekir Semli and Lassad Hosni. He recorded Conte de L’Incroyable Amour with Turkish musicians Barbaros Erköse and Kudsi Ergüner in 1991. He released an album titled Madar with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Pakistani tabla master Shaukat Hüseyin in 1994. Anouar Brahem composed movie and play scores for many artists such as Nuri Bouzid, Ferid Boughedir, Moufida Tlatli, Iachou Shakespeare and Mohamed Driss. His album Thimar with John Surman on the saxophone and Dave Holland on the bass received Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik in Germany. The same album was chose as the Best Jazz Album of the Year by English magazine Jazz Wise.
Orhan Kahyaoğlu (b. 1960, İstanbul -), Turkish poet, author, editor and critic. Kahyaoğlu graduated from Kadıköy Anatolian High School in 1979 and finished his degree in the department of International Relations in Istanbul University School of Economics. He wrote research papers and essays that focused on poems and poetica and published these in prestigious publications of the time such as Şiir Atı, Varlık, Kitaplık, Virgül, Yasakmeyve. He served as the editor-in-chief for magazines that left a mark in poetry publications such as Sombahar (1990-1996) and Ludingirra (1997-2000). In addition to detailed analysis papers he wrote on the masters of contemporary Turkish poetry and their works, he released two research and compilation books on Melih Cevdet Anday’s poetry titled ‘Güneşte Ayıklanmış’ and on Ece Ayhan’s poetry titled ‘Mor Külhani’ in 2004.
