2009-02-25
Painted on Water Achieves Haunting, Irresistible Fusion of World, Jazz and Motern Music
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 17, 2009
PAINTED ON WATER
ACHIEVES HAUNTING, IRRESISTIBLE FUSION
OF WORLD, JAZZ, AND MODERN MUSIC
Duo of Star Turkish Performers Collaborates
With Top American Jazz, Rock and Pop Players
NEW YORK – PAINTED ON WATER, the self-titled album project by the duo of vocalist Sertab Erener and composer/guitarist Demir Demirkan, is more than a breath of fresh air – it’s one of the year’s unexpected pleasures, a unique excursion through jazz, rock and the duo’s own Turkish musical and cultural heritage. The album is released on Motema Music June 9, 2009.
Produced in Los Angeles and Istanbul by Painted on Water’s Demirkan and nine-time Grammy winner Jay Newland (Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker), PAINTED ON WATER moves in a warm, fluid, and organic way between jazz, modern rock, and pop-flavored vocal compositions featuring Erener’s sensual, evocative lead, and fusion-jazz instrumentals anchored by Demirkan’s guitar. Each of the album’s songs is inspired by the melodies of Turkish Anatolian classical and folk music, with English lyrics written by Demirkan and by veteran No. 1 songsmith Phil Galdston (Madonna, Celine Dion, Vanessa Williams).
Album opener “Blue” was written by Demirkan for Grammy-winning guest guitarist Al DiMeola, while distinctly modern alternative-rock notes are sounded in the vividly emotional “Nothing But To Pray,” “Love We Made,” and “Before the Night.” The whimsical “One Shot” and “Mad Love” connect folk songs to blues and funk. A suite of instrumentals concludes the album, the swing-influenced “Shehnaz on Shiraz,” “Aegean Bride” inspired by the reflections of a bride’s father, and the minimal, hypnotic “Habudiyar,” an experimental interpolation of folk material.
Naming their band and the album after the traditional Turkish technique of marbled-paper art known as Ebru, created by floating dyes on the surface of water, PAINTED ON WATER by style and by essence demonstrates the shifting, tangible and intangible qualities of music, emotion and art. The duo’s upcoming American appearances promise to be rich and involving multi-media events, accompanied by a live projected display of Ebru art, created onstage alongside the band by the master paper-marbling artist Hikmet Barutcugil.
Drawing inspiration and deep authenticity from its historic sources, the ethos of the album is at once Turkish, and universal: “You and me is a long, long lost story, painted on water,” is a key lyric, notes Demirkan. The concept also expresses the philosophy that “life is like water, and you put the colors onto it,” adds Erener. “Water never stays in a permanent state. It disappears.”
“Making Anatolian melodies accessible to the mainstream ear with English lyrics, expanding ourselves lyrically, and having world-class eastern and western musicians -- these were the fundamentals of the album,” says Demirkan. “Because Turkish music is monophonic -- all the instruments are playing the same melody – it has no harmony, no chord progressions. We wrote new melodies to harmonize the material, and complete the Anatolian melody in a western verse/chorus song form. There was a sea of options in doing that. The first version of ‘Before the Night’ was gothic rock, because it was very dark. Some melodies come from village dance songs, with no lyric to work from. Phil Galdston interpreted the feel of the folk songs into a contemporary lyric.”
The album’s all-encompassing musical and multi-media concept has already been mightily refreshing to long-time followers and to the artists themselves. “I think there is a great balance between the tradition and the modern interpretation,” says Erener. “We’ve performed twice as Painted On Water, at Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and at Champs d’Elysee Theater in Paris, for the Turkish audience. They felt this familiar melody, but couldn’t put their finger on the song right away, because of the English lyric.” There’s a feeling of renewal in the collaboration of the longtime partners, adds Demirkan. “Previously, I was Sertab’s songwriter and producer. This is the first project we are together in the band. We set our pop and rock background aside, and this is the first result. In Paris, people really knew what they were gonna get – not a Sertab or Demir concert, but a new band.”
Erener and Demirkan are among Turkey’s most celebrated musicians as solo artists, in addition to a decade of collaboration between them. Erener’s 12 albums have sold in the millions in Turkey, across Europe and as far away as Japan. Guitarist, composer and PAINTED ON WATER album co-producer Demirkan became one of Turkey’s true rock stars when he joined the Istanbul heavy metal band Pentagram in 1990. He has released three solo albums and two film scores. He and Erener co-wrote the 2003 international hit, “Every Way That I Can,” Turkey’s first and only winning entry in the 50-year history of the Eurovision Song Contest. “After Eurovision, I traveled Europe and I realized we can have international Turkish music as a brand, as no one had before,” Erener says.
Demirkan sums up: “I believe that we all spoke the same language sometime in the past. Music still has that quality, in melody and rhythm. I think everyone shares that, and it’s the basis of PAINTED ON WATER.”
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