Post Description

* 800th Anniversary of the Birth of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi *

Mercan Dede (born Arkin Ilicali, 1966, Bursa, Turkey), also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer.
His album 800 was selected as the World's Best World Music Album of 2008 by WOMEX!


Achtergrond bij Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi:

  In a befitting tribute to renowned Afghan poet Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi (Rumi), the United Nations observed his 800th birth anniversary at its headquarters on Tuesday July 3rd.

The daylong event co-hosted by Afghanistan , Iran and Turkey was attended by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, General Assembly President Sheikh bin Khalifa, and Afghanistan's Ambassador to the United Nations.

Maulana was born in Afghanistan's Balkh Province on September 30, 1207 to a family of learned theologians. He is one of the greatest spiritual and literary figures of all times. As the most celebrated poet of the Farsi language, Maulana is renowned for his message of love, humanity and peace, and for his founding of the Mawlawia order, better known as the "Whirling Dervishes".

While fleeing his homeland during the Mongol invasion of Central Asia with his father, Maulana met and received the blessing of Farid al-Din Attar, the preeminent Sufi poet of the day, whom he was to succeed in the annals of Persian Sufi poetry. Maulana's family traveled through the Middle East and made the pilgrimage to Mecca before settling in Konya, Turkey, where he would compose his poetry over the next 40 years. 


Eight hundred years on from Rumi's birth comes this celebration album from the best-known Turkish exponent of electronica and "spiritual clubbing". Now based in Montreal, Dede has assembled a global cast for his project, with leading Turkish musicians playing anything from trumpet and trombones to the zither-like kanun and the kemence (fiddle), matched against a Swiss bass player and the Indian tabla exponent Shankar Das. 


World, Electronic

01. 800
02. Yol Gecen Hani
03. Mercanistan
04. Kanatlar Kitabi
05. Guenes Dogudan Dogar
06. Bilinmezin Elcileri
07. Tutsak
08. Pamuk Prenses Ve 7 Cueceler, Ali Baba Ve Kirk Haramiler'e Karsi
09. Istanbul
10. Denizkizi Ilahisi
11. Nerdesin