TRISTAN DRIESSENS, LEVENT YILDIRIM
Bir İstanbul Akşamında
Upcoming release date: 06.11.2026
Catalogue number: 2GN035
Format: CD / DIGITAL
FEATURED ARTISTS: Tristan Driessens: oud, Levent Yildirim: doholla, derbuka, bendir, zil, riqq, davul.
TRACKLIST
01 Şedaraban Taksim (2:04)
02 Şedaraban Peşrev (Refik Fersan, İstanbul, 1893 – 1965) (5:44)
03 Geçiş Taksim (2:22)
04 Nihavend Uvertür “Pembe kız”, Pt. I (Ali Haydar bey, İstanbul, 1846 – 1904) (5:28)
05 Nihavend Uvertür “Pembe kız”, Pt. II (Ali Haydar bey) (2:18)
06 Hüseyni ve Karciğar Taksim (1:11)
07 Gürcu kızı (Yurdal Tokcan, Ordu, 1966) (4:13)
08 Hüseyni Taksim (1:25)
09 Hüseyni Saz Semai “Köyde sabah” (Cinuçen Tanrıkorur, İstanbul, 1938 – 2000) (5:22)
10 Hicaz Taksim (1:45)
11 Hicaz Saz Semai (Refik Talât Alpman, İstanbul, 1873 – 1947) (4:52)
12 Trabzoni bar (Traditional dance from Armenia) (4:46)
13 Batum (Traditional dance from the Black Sea) (1:50)
14 Nikriz Taksim (2:07)
15 Nikriz Saz Semai (Refik Fersan) (5:35)
16 Nihavend Taksim (2:27)
17 Sultaniyegah Sirto, Pt. I (Sadi Işılay, İstanbul, 1899 – 1969) (1:43)
18 Sultaniyegah Sirto, Pt. II (Sadi Işılay) (4:40)
Total time: 60:00
CREDITS
Recorded 19th – 23th January 2022
Studio Mea Culpa, Orléans, France
Engineer: Arnaud Bottin
Additional oud parts recorded at Seyir Muzik, Brussels
Engineer: Dries Van Ende
Edit, mix & mastering: Dries Van Ende
Cover photography: Alain Van Hille, Andrew Liu
Design: Eleni Lomvardou
Produced by Seyir Muzik
Description
Bir İstanbul Akşamında – ‘An Evening in Istanbul’ – is Tristan Driessens‘ love letter to Istanbul, the city where he spent seven years of apprenticeship under oud master Necati Çelik. One can hear suites of peşrevs and semais by such great 20th century composers as Refik Fersan, Refik Talât Alpman and Cinuçen Tanrıkorur, intertwined with traditional Anatolian dances and urban popular music reminiscent of the Golden Age meyhane (tavern) culture. The improvised interludes or taksims ensure a thread of continuity, smoothly modulating from one makam to the next. These resting points express the ‘ruh’, the very spirit and soul of makam and are a crucial feature of the momentum of a traditional Turkish music concert. On Bir İstanbul Akşamında, the taksims appear like nostalgic miniatures where the Belgian oud player reflects on his Istanbul years, incidentally providing a welcome counterbalance in an otherwise exuberant album.
With his long-term friend Levent Yıldırım accompanying him on almost every rhythmical track, Tristan Driessens teams up with one of the present day’s most virtuosic percussionists. Globally considered the foremost pioneer of modern dohola (Egyptian bass darbouka), Levent Yıldırım rightly does not just appear as a sideman on this album. He showcases his technically dazzling signature style with multi-layered solos which are at the heart of up-tempo tracks like Pembe kız, Trabzoni bar and Sultaniyegah Sirto. Melody and rhythm enhance each other at all times, adding to the listening experience some great effect of surprise.
As the ‘sultan of instruments’ and its rhythmic counterpart, the oud and percussion are an emblematic pair that has bridged melodic improvisation with structured rhythmic cycles for centuries. Together, Tristan Driessens and Levent Yıldırım succeed in paying tribute to this essential backbone of Middle Eastern music. Bir İstanbul Akşamında is a bright album which has both a classical and, at times, very popular feel, and which I believe might easily become a standout reference in its genre.
K. M., Izmir, 29th of October 2025
