Our stroll down the hill in Bursa brought us to the old Jewish district. The area is well preserved and its main street is lined with restaurants, seemingly belonging mostly to the same owner, Arap Sukru Cetin. As we enjoyed our dinner, across the aisle four men enjoyed their dinner that is so typical in Turkey. It starts slow, with small appetizers, small sips of raki, chit-chat; then the conversation moves either in the direction of politics or singing, in either case getting louder. Luckily for us (and quite possibly for themselves) they chose the latter and joined by two street musicians with their clarinet and the small drum, darbuka. I observed them as I enjoyed my meal and the conversation at our table.
In singing traditional Turkish music, the singer’s head, especially that of the amateurs, moves in predictable manner; down for low notes, up for high, occasionally moving side to side much more rapidly than the rhythm would indicate. The length of time of down or up state depends on the length of the note. Clapping occasionally enters the scene keeping rhythm with the drummer (at least some of the time.) The group certainly enjoyed themselves and I was interested in capturing the gesture, the movement of the music with my camera. They knew I was taking photographs but mostly ignored me, thank you guys. I did not know who they were, I will not meet them again in all likelihood. I hope they accidentally find their way to this page and remember the good time they had.
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