At A Summer Night Festival on the evening of August 7, we eagerly await a live performance for the 1922 silent film classic “Salome” by BaBa ZuLa, who were our guests for From A to Z.

Murat Ertel

ADALET (Justice) Cimcoz
BABA (Father) Mengü Ertel
CESARET (Courage) Abdülcanbaz
DELİLİK (Madness) Van Gogh
EMANET (Heirloom) The British blues boom of the 1960s
FASO FİSO (Hot Air) Soprano sax
GERİLİM (Tension) Kitchen accidents
HEYECAN (Excitement) Concert
ISPANAK (Spinach) Leek
İSTANBUL Its children
JETON (Token) There was a French band called Telephone; I have their records, too
KELAM (Word) I think I’m pregnant
LAMBA (Lamp) Blow it out, as in the song “Lambaya Püf De”
MERAK (Curiosity) Curiosity Killed the Cat /band
NİYET (Intention) Free spirit
OLMAK (To Be) The words of the minstrels live on
ÖMÜR (Lifetime) Göksel
PERŞEMBE (Thursday) Thor’s Day
RENK (Color) Kızıl Gözlüm
SESSİZLİK (Silence) Space music
ŞİFA (Healing) Music
TABUTTA RÖVAŞATA (Somersault in a Coffin) Film score
UMUT (Hope) İsan is a really good sound technician, I miss him
ÜNLEM (Exclamation) Nokta, the opening track of the album ‘Kökler’
VEDA (Farewell) Melancholy leaf
YEŞİL (Green) Slow Forest and Fast Forest
ZULA (Stash) BaBa

Levent Akman

ADALET (Justice) The foundation of the state
BABA (Father) Always missed
CESARET (Courage) What’s lacking these days
DELİLİK (Madness) It’s good
EMANET (Heirloom) Must not be betrayed
FASO FİSO (Hot Air) A waste of time
GERİLİM (Tension) Not much need for it
HEYECAN (Excitement) It’s good
ISPANAK (Spinach) Popeye
İSTANBUL Beautiful but hard
JETON (Token) The lifesaver of the old days
KELAM (Word) An Arabic word, I think
LAMBA (Lamp) Blow it out
MERAK (Curiosity) Important
NİYET (Intention) The good ones pave the road to hell
OLMAK (To Be) Or not to be
ÖMÜR (Lifetime) It had ayran
PERŞEMBE (Thursday) You can tell it’s coming from Wednesday
RENK (Color) Sadly, we are aware of very few of them
SESSİZLİK (Silence) Hard to find in the city
ŞİFA (Healing) Kam, the shaman
TABUTTA RÖVAŞATA (Somersault in a Coffin) First love
UMUT (Hope) The bread of the poor
ÜNLEM (Exclamation) Rarely used
VEDA (Farewell) Sorrow
YEŞİL (Green) Peace
ZULA (Stash) BaBa

WHO ARE THEY? One of the rare bands in Türkiye that cannot be placed within any single genre, the group was formed in 1996 to make the music for Dervis Zaim’s film Tabutta Rövaşata (Somersault in a Coffin), and it surely had no idea that by 2013 it would become our country’s musical ambassador, traveling from America to Japan, from Canada to Brazil and to many countries across Europe. They draw on traditional folk music and combine what they take from our musical roots with contemporary music. In doing so they never take the easy way out, which is why what they make is original and impossible to imitate. There is funk on one side and electronica on the other, but the source that feeds it all is the music made on the soil of this land, and the result is Turkish psychedelia. Having signed countless film scores and collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Mad Professor, Bugge Wesseltoft and CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit, the band brings an experimental, contemporary line to 1960s psychedelic music and the sounds of Anatolian rock by adding dub and electronic approaches. After crowning their 20th year with the album ‘’XX’’, BaBa ZuLa released the album “Derin Derin” on the GlitterBeat label in 2019. Most recently, BaBa ZuLa, pioneers of Turkish psychedelic music, released their 11th LP, Hayvan Gibi, in their 25th year. Hayvan Gibi, the band’s first live studio recording, was recorded at Artone Studios using the direct-to-disc method. Released on the Night Dreamer Records&Gülbaba Records labels, the album is the 5th in Night Dreamer’s D2D series and also has the distinction of being the first album released on Gülbaba Records. Albums aside, their stage performances are admirable too. Supporting their music and ideas visually with dance and theatrical elements, they become one with the audience and offer something like a shamanic ritual. At this point we can safely say: anyone who has never seen a BaBa ZuLa concert is missing out on a lot!

Tickets for “Salome,” to be screened at A Summer Night Festival with a live performance by BaBa ZuLa on the evening of Sunday, August 7, are available here. On this occasion, let us also recall the band’s video for “Bir Sana Bir de Bana,” made with footage from the 1917 film “Enis Aldjelis” and every bit as beautiful as the song itself.