Since the release of their first album, Adana, which appeared at the time of the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish-Armenian duo Vardan Hovanissian & Emre Gültekin symbolizes the reconciliation between peoples through the melancholic but hopeful sounds of duduk and saz.
With this second album, the duo continues their exploration of the links between Turkish and Armenian traditions and broadens their journey by addressing the rich musical heritage of this troubled region covered by Georgia, Iran, Kurdistan.
Driven by a deeply itinerant soul and guided by their friendship without borders, the duo weaves links between languages and styles according to their music and instruments. The resulting album is a eulogy to the meeting of others and feeds on sharing and generosity.
They draw on the profusion of traditional repertoires, bringing back to life a few lost treasure from the past, and complementing them with new compositions addressing contemporary subjects such as the fate of refugees.
The lyrics are sung sometimes in Armenian, sometimes in Turkish, Kurdish or Georgian. The melancholy sound of the duduk responds perfectly, flowing effortlessly alongside the resonant strings of saz and tanbur.
Since being introduced to the duduk by his master Khachik Khachatryan, Vardan Hovanissian has become one of the talented ambassadors of this very old double-reed instrument, whose melancholy sound reflects the Armenian soul. More than 10 years ago, he found his musical soul mate in Emre Gültekin, who learned the art of Turkish saz from Talip Özkan and his father Lütfü Gültekin.