Cigdem Aslan, Kings Place, King's Cross, London (GB) - Nov 23, 2016

This concert launched the album 'A Thousand Cranes'. Cigdem Aslan sang accompanied by a great band: Nikos Baimpas kanun, santouri (also musical director); Michalis Kouloumis violin; Colin Somervell double bass; Vasilis Sarikis percussion; Vasilis Korakakis bouzouki, guitar, baglama, vocal; Phillipos Retsios piano; Vasilis Lemonias cello. Matoula Zamani came on as a guest singer. Aslan is a Kurdish singer from Istanbul and her repertoire is inspired by, and sometimes is taken directly from, the music of the cosmopolitan culture which existed in the old Ottoman lands - Anatolia, Greece, the coastal cities of Asia Minor. Her singing was terrific and Zamani, too, had a great voice. The band was full of virtuosi, especially Baimpas and Kouloumis.