Golden Horn Releases Legacy
With the release of Legacy, kemence player Neva Ozgen's
debut solo album, Golden Horn Records makes history with the first solo
instrumental recording by a female artist in the Turkish classical music
world.
With both classical compositions and inventive, exciting improvisations,
Legacy is a celebration of both the traditions of the past and the possibilities
of the future. Neva Ozgen has a firm belief in the importance of a musician
to be well-versed in classical works, but an adventurous passion for the
possibilities these classical forms hold for expansion through improvisation.
Legacy includes Neva Ozgen on the kemence accompanied by her father,
Ihsan Ozgen, on the tanbur and rebab. Though all three instruments are
traditional to Turkish classical music, this album once more breaks ground,
as there exist only a very few previous recordings of the Turkish rebab.
On Legacy, Neva and Ihsan Ozgen perform the taksim, the traditional Turkish
art of improvisation, with the classical works of composers such as Nai
Osman Dede, Neyzen Salih Dede, and Ismail Dede Efendi, among others.
As the daughter of the highly-respected Turkish classical musician Ihsan
Ozgen, Neva Ozgen grew up surrounded by music. Though she began her musical
studies in the Western classical traditions, Neva Ozgen soon became drawn
towards the Turkish classical world of her famous father, and began the
study of the kemence, immersing herself in the traditional compositions
of Tanburi Cemil Bey.
Ihsan Ozgen is the self-taught kemence virtuoso of Turkey and heir to
the musical throne of Tanburi Cemil Bey. He has spent a lifetime of dedication
sharing his passion for Turkish music worldwide. Most recently he has
taken his adventurous spirit towards new realms with exploration in more
experimental musical forms. Ihsan Ozgen has two previous releases on Golden
Horn Records, Masterworks of the Itri and Meragi (1998) and Remembrances
of Ottoman Composers (1999).
This extraordinary father-daughter duo was recorded for Legacy in California
in October of 1999.
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