Melancholy Longing: Omar Faruk Tekbilek and "Hasret"

Today's random song is called Hasret and is performed by Omar Faruk Tekbilek. A Turkish composer and musician who is multi-faceted, playing wind, percussion and stringed instruments, he add electronic ambient sounds to traditional Sufi music. As a teenager in the mid-1960s, he considered devoting his life to Sufism but at 15 decided to pursue music as his profession. He toured the United States with a Turkish folk ensemble in 1971. On the tour he met his future wife, and returned to the US after compulsory military service. He worked in an apparel factory in Rochester, New York while honing his craft in a pop and fusion band called The Sultans, but opportunities were few and far between until he met composer, musician and guitarist Briane Keane in 1988. Keane engaged him for a soundtrack he was working on for the movie Suleyman the Magnificent, and eventually became Tekbilek's producer. You can find Hasret on Omar Faruk Tekbilek's 2011 album Mystical Garden, and on numerous compilation albums such as Pera Lounge (2011).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Faruk_Tekbilek