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from
Newsday
July 15, 2004
Dede's flute: alive in spirit
by Marty Lipp
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 What is it within us that  compels us to categorize and
label? Some performances challenge audiences to give those
pigeonholing faculties a rest and simply appreciate what they see and hear for
the singular experiences they are.
Turkish-born Mercan Dede plays music that is rooted in his study of the
Middle Eastern flute called the ney and of the 13th century Sufi philosopher
Rumi, but he makes use of state-of-the-art electronics.
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Dede says he's fine with any label people give his music, but that "names
and titles, I believe, are the reason we are unhappy."
Born Arkin Illicali in a small Turkish village, Dede studied journalism in
Istanbul, then relocated to Canada, where he eventually became a DJ under the
name Arkin Allen. When he put his two musical worlds together, he chose another
name, Mercan Dede, from a feisty old character in a novel. Now he is
rereleasing two of his discs as one set, "Sufi Traveler" for U.S.
distribution.
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Because "dede" means "grandfather" in Turkish, when he returned to play his
hybrid music in Turkey several years ago, many people were surprised he wasn't
a grumpy codger playing the ney. Now, he says, more young people no longer see
the ney as old-fashioned and have taken up playing it. "People started to
realize that if you can make something alive, it doesn't matter if it's 13th
century or contemporary."
“Dede’s flute: alive in spirit” by Marty Lipp from Newsday, July 15, 2004. Copyright © 2004 by Newsday. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
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