‘Istanbul / Tel Aviv’ concert by Muallem, Karbasi

ISTANBUL

Istanbul’s Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall will host a concert by Israeli musician Yinon Muallem on April 8. The concert, titled “Istanbul - Tel Aviv,” will feature compositions inspired by the musician’s biographical book of the same name, inspired by his memories of two different countries and cities he lived in. Having lived in Türkiye for many years, Muallem moved to Sweden with his family in 2021.

Muallem, who is well-known in world music, has made countless projects, 11 albums and wrote two books during his 22 years in Istanbul.

He also gave percussion, oud and Mediterranean music master classes in music academies around the world.

Also, the guest artist in his concert will be the world-renowned Ladino singer Mor Karbasi, who has performed with Muallem at international festivals.

Shown as “one of the greatest young divas of the world music scene” by the Guardian, Karbasi successfully blends Moroccan, Iranian and Jewish cultures in her music with inspiration from her family roots.

Another guest singer of the concert will be ChanCe (Şansın Tüzün) from Türkiye, who has worked with Muallem since the pandemic times.

Other musicians who will accompany them will be Saman Alias on clarinet, Volkan İncüvez on guitar/ney, İsmail Altunbaş on percussion instruments and Baran Say on contrabass.

Stating that Türkiye is like his home, Muallem said that due to his wife’s job, they moved to Stockholm, and it will be his first concert in the country since he moved.

“I’m excited and longing to come, meet my friends and the audience here. When my book ‘Istanbul-Tel Aviv’ came out, the pandemic started; it is about my own life. When we presented the concert project to CRR about my artistic life, accompanied by the memories and music of two different countries and cities I lived in, Murat Cem Orhan suggested the concert should have the same theme with the book. Years ago, I had a concert together with Karbasi in Jerusalem, this time we will share the stage again in Istanbul,” he said.

He said that his first visit to Istanbul was to learn the oud and he was going to stay for a few months and return.

“I traveled like a tourist first, I met new friends and my wife Dilek. After having a child, Türkiye became my home and I still feel that way. I made most of my albums during this period, I formed groups including Rast Ensemble and TaKiDum trio; we took the stage in concerts and festivals,” he said.

After “Istanbul – Tel Aviv,” Muallem wrote the novel “Deep Inside a Broken Violin.” His latest album, “Norwegian Oud,” coincided with the pandemic period.

As for new projects, Muallem said he wrote a new book called “Joshua Baum” about a percussion player at the Israeli Philharmonic and that the book is about music, love, Havana, Cuba, and Ernest Hemingway.

“Nowadays I’m working on a new album called ‘Together’ that will be recorded in the summer with my friend from Stockholm, Saman Alias, who also takes part in this concert, and other musicians from Sweden,” Muallem said.

Also speaking about the recent earthquake disaster in Türkiye, Muallem said, “We are very sad, it is a very difficult and incredible situation. We have relatives and many friends in Türkiye. The losses are great. I do pray for everybody and hope that my music and this concert will bring a bit of joy and smile to the people in Istanbul.”

Karbasi said she is truly happy for the collaboration with Muallem, adding, they will play and sing beautiful classics alongside original material by her and him.

“My new album ‘Saat Arahman’ is now out worldwide, and we plan an album tour also in Türkiye this year. The album is very eclectic, and I believe the Turkish audience will like it very much. I was thinking about my Turkish fans while recording them. The songs on the album are in Ladino, Spanish, Berber Arabic and the theme song is an old wedding song,” Karbasi said.