ARIFA & Aynur with Band

ARIFA & Aynur

Percussionist Sjahin During and ud player Mehmet Polat have worked together before in the Afro Anatolian Experience, which at times included the Romanian saxophonist Alex Simu. Together with kanun player Osama Abdulrasol from Iran they founded Arifa over a year ago, receiving great acclaim for their debut CD Beyond Babylon. Ton Maas of the Volkskrant noted that Arifa could be very favourably compared to the ud player Anouar Brahem. Arifa is an encounter of four musicians with one foot deeply rooted in the traditions of Turkey, the Middle East and the Balkans and the other foot moving through contemporary and improvised music, creating a brand new sound. The combination with singer Aynur looks promising. Aynur Doğan has a Kurdish background and has performed frequently in the Netherlands, for example with the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, but also at the latest edition of North Sea Jazz, where she went on stage as part of Mujerres de Agua, a project by the Spaniard Javier Limon.