Imagine the inner chambers of the Harem at Topkapi, those rooms filled with dangling tasseled lamps projecting sparkling shadowy lights onto cobalt tiled walls and silk cushions. A sanctuary where bad-ass concubines perfect their charming snakelike hip rotations to the sounds of drum beats and lutes being played by court musicians.
…In this vision, the magicians spinning their siren sounds would be Baba Zula.
Playing at Babylon last night, the group are a much loved Turkish musical trio made up of two percussionists – one beating a huge, Ramadan-announcing goblet drum, the other a drum machine – and fronted by the head wizard himself, Baba Zula, playing the saz (a Turkish lute). He’s dressed in a floor-length kaftan, hair pinned on top, with a scowl and a fierce Genghis Khan look.
Their sound is a clever blend of trippy Turkish folk and psychedelic rock, interlaced with snippets of horses neighing, Egyptian dub, cymbals clashing and the haunting voice of their guest female singer, an eccentrically-dressed siren, who knows how to work the space with slow and hypnotic undulating arms before the coloured spotlights.
An enticing piped piper, and aware of the trance-like effect they have on their audience, Baba Zula tried to overcome the confines of the walled space by leaving the stage and moving through the crowds, breaking the front-facing rigidity and creating a heady, swirling, dancing confusion.
Though they played for more than two hours, the audience would have happily been captivated for a further 1001 nights in their enchanting company.
Irina Popa is a contributor for Yabangee
