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London Folk Magazine and News

Rüya (Dream) by Olcay Bayır

Rüya (Dream) by Olcay Bayır

New release from Olcay Bayir - world : contemporary : jazz : folk

a real treat for the ears” Rootsworld
enchanting” Inside World Music
exquisite” The Guardian

Olcay Bayır´s music is a natural marriage of her time-honoured Anatolian heritage and the vibrant, eclectic sounds of London, which she now calls home. Classically trained as a soprano, collaborations with musicians from all around the world have informed Olcay’s music as much as the rich tradition of Kurdish and Turkish folk songs of her youth.

Olcay’s debut album ‘Neva / Harmony’ (Riverboat Records, 2014) was a collection of Anatolian folk songs in her own arrangements, in which she sings in five languages. “Olcay Bayır is an impressive newcomer to London’s vibrant global music scene… this is an elegant and often gently exquisite set”, commented the Guardian.

The new album – Rüya – was part funded by PRS Foundation’s Women Make Music programme. It showcases Olcay’s own compositions for the first time. Rüya – the poignantly hopeful title track meaning ‘dream’ – speaks of Olcay’s dream for a better world, and, fittingly, came to her while she slept. Olcay says she became a child again in that moment, innocently putting forth her wish for love and peace in the world. The track Yar Dedi has become relatively well known in her native Turkey even ahead of an album release.

Rüya was arranged and produced by Al MacSween and Giuliano Modarelli, bringing the sound of their award-winning international music collective Kefaya to Olcay’s original songs and well-known traditional melodies. www.kefaya.co.uk
Olcay (pronounced ‘OL-djai’) thinks of herself as a citizen of the world, an identity carved moving from place to place, absorbing cultural influences along the way.

“I am on a long road, between two doors. I walk all day, I walk all night” are the lyrics of Asik Veysel,
Turkey´s celebrated 20th century wandering minstrel -
a reference to the Alevi metaphor for life, from birth to afterlife, the parallels with Olcay’s journey are clear.

Live Album Launch Show Friday 12 April 2018 at St John’s Music Hall
Leytonstone St, John´s Church, High Rd, Leytonstone, London E11 1HH
www.musichalls.org part of Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019.

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