Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was known for much of its history, was always one of the crossroads of the world. As the place where Asia meets Europe and the Black Sea flows into Mediterranean, the city was the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, a major port of trade and the point where great cultures converged—but not always happily. Bitter memories remain, even in ethnic communities in the U.S., but Boston's multi-ethnic group Dunya have successfully bridged the divisions through music.
The brainchild of Turkish-born Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, Dunya's ambitious concept album is a flowing montage of music and a sophisticated cultural palimpsest. A Story of the City opens on a striking note with its sole original composition as a spooky twilight melody emerges from modernist reverberating piano and percussive crashes. It's a bracing set-up for the magical musical tour to come. Joining Dunya is an Eastern Orthodox choir whose voices fathom the depths of eternity and whose modes will remind world music buffs of the Bulgarian women's choirs.
As the two-CD set progresses from early to recent, Dunya knowledgeably recreates music from the Byzantine and Ottoman courts, the thrumming dances of the populace and the devotional strains of the Sufis along with echoes of more recent Near Eastern pop. Unlike altogether too recordings marketed during the past quarter century as world music, Dunya steers clear of insubstantial fusions and inorganic eclecticism. They know what they're playing and are able to play many things superbly and with emotional engagement. Melancholy drapes the music inside this handsomely packaged, hardcover set complete with a tri-lingual booklet. Istanbul still lives, but many of its inhabitants are ghosts.
