Whether you favor Turkish Music in the arabesque, pop, or Sanat-Art musical style, these are some of the biggest names of the Turkish Music scene of any era -- Sezen Aksu, Muazzez Abaci, Ajda Pekkan, Erol Evgin, Seda Sayan, Muazzez Ersoy, Özcan Deniz, Zerrin Özer, Deniz Seki, and Müzeyyen Senar. The only very obvious big-name musical star missing from that list is Bülent Ersoy -- and her absence, in this case, is no surprise and no mistake...
They had all gathered in March for the first time at the Imaj Music Studio in İstanbul to begin rehearsals for a special musical concert -- to honor Zeki Müren (1931-1996) and his music. The concert (held in April at MyShadowland Concert Hall in Istanbul) was the main attraction of the '13th Annual Golden Lens Awards' ceremonies -- sponsored by MGD (The Turkish Magazine and Newspaperman's Association).
And it was a smash hit -- which even produced a 'life-time achievement award' for Sezen Aksu (the reigning queen of Turkish music, who, as a young woman, wrote some of the songs that Zeki Bey made famous).
It was so successful in fact, that the participants decided to make a music album (now released) of the songs they sang at the concert -- with all the profits going to support well-known Turkish Education and Health-related charities. The music album (titled "One Voice -- 13 Breaths' -- the same name as the concert), was produced under the direction of Mustafa Sagyasar, a well known musical artist in his own right.
And not even the absence of Bülent Ersoy's big name (due to her lifelong feud with musical rival Zeki Bey) could mar the successful release of the instant-classic Art Music album -- which gracefully floated to the top of the Turkish music charts in record time.
