Detailierte Künstler Informationen: Orientation

I. ORIENTATION: the band
ORIENTATION blends soulful funky beats together with desperately longing “arabesque” music (the Turkish definition of “the Blues”). ORIENTATION creats melodies with a reminiscence to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Turkey, interpreting it with new urban spirit. ORIENTATION calls it “Oriental Soul”.

On speciality of ORIENTATION ist he turkish wedding rhythm, a 9/8, which sounds new and maybe even “odd” for the Western ear. But ORIENTATION manages to create reggae and funky vibes in a 9/8 that reinvent those styles and gives them a completely fresh flavour!

ORIENTATION has earned its reputation and fame in countless concerts all over Europe. They have toured with Tarkan and the new Superstar Muhabbet. They represented Germany and their home town Berlin at the EXPO 2000 and in Hong Kong. In 2009 ORIENTATION won the famous “Creole” award for Berlin and became finalist for Germany.

ORIENTATION has contributed their music for various soundtracks and both feature films and documentaries as well as TV-sequels. ORIENTATION has been featured on numerous compilations, such as “Oriental Garden“, „Obsession Lounge“, „Play Up“, „Tokyo Lounge“, „Klassik Lounge Night Flight“, “From East to West”, just to name a few.

ORIENTATION live is fun and a playful happiness. It is new and surprising arrangements. ORIENTATION live is dance and joy. ORIENTATION does not know nationalities and physical borders. They simply play great music. Voilá!


ORIENTATION are:

-Bekir Karaoglan (Istanbul/Berlin): Bekir is a breathtaking musician, he ist he main vocalist of the band, plays piano and keyboard, electric percussion, violin and ney (arabian flute).
-Andreas Advocado (Berlin): Bassplayer and Mr. Funk himself. Performed with so many artists and bands such as Zsa Zsa Buschkow, Shank, Tanmoy Bose, Richard Howell, Sultana.
-Babak Akhoondi (Teheran/Berlin): guitar player of the Teheran cult-band “Rumi Music”, he himself is an Icon of the iranian Underground-independent scene.
-Enno Kuck (Berlin): drummer, also for Drum Connection, Beat’n Blow and other bands “Made in Berlin“.
-Serdar Dagdelen (Istanbul/Berlin): Virtuoso of the Kanon (türkish zither), connoisseur of the tradtional türkish Wedding and classisal music.




I. The new Album: ORIENTATION BIZ

ORIENTATION´s new album ORIENTATION BIZ truly marks a liberation coup. It is a farewell and a new beginning, a revolution in evolution. With ORIENTATION BIZ Bekir Karaoglan and Andreas Advocado, producers and authors for so many different artists (Muhabbet, Killa Hakan, Sultana, Waldemar Bastos, Astrid Suryanto etc.), prove that they do not only reinvent music over and over again, but that they are also able to simply write great pop songs.

Whereas the first two ORIENTATION - longplayers ("Bosporus Bridge", "9 in Istanbul, 8 in Berlin") had a melancholic and sophisticated approach, Bekir and Advocado now show their naturally happy side. They can play it easy thanks to their friends, Enno Kuck on drums, Babek Akhoondi on the guitar and Serdar Dagdelen on Kanun. With this new setup ORIENTATION has found its natural sound after so many years of soulsearching. “We let go and gained new momentum.“ Says Bekir: „It simply frees your soul!“

The 10 new songs of ORIENTATION come as a bundle. There are no pauses, no instrumentals, no interludes or gap fillers. Instead – and this is a good tradition of real pop music – one hit after the other. “We wanted SONGS, the simplier the better. We wanted to prove that in also pop music there is only one common ground: good or bad. That´s all."

Needless to say that even on ORIENTATION BIZ the typical elements of ORIENTATION must not to missed: the desperatly longing string-sections, the contemplating Kanun, those rocking guitars, the pumping bass and rhythms. But this time in the center of all you´ll find Bekir´s unique voice. Advocado: "I personally believe that Bekir has the most beautiful voice. I have produced such different Singers and artists, but only Bekir can express all feelings: ranging from despair to joy, from melancholy to happiness."

With ORIENTATION BIZ the band ORIENTATION leaves the somehow narrow label „world music“ and reaches out to all people. Done with those clichés: "We have accomplished our mission for the ideal symbiosis of Occident and Orient. Now we are simply making borderless great music (big smile)."

DJane Ipek, famous all over the world for her expertise in East-European and Turkish dance music, has selected ORIENTATION´s track “Sen Gülünce” for her new compilation album “Beyond Istanbul 2” (Trikont, Autumn 2009).










III. The Media

This is what the media writes about Orientation:

Zitty (Berlin): „ORIENTATION dances between the musical traditions of the occident and orient.“

Tagesspiegel (Berlin): „The first real homogenous mixture of oriental and occidental music „Made in Berlin“.“

Berliner Kurier: „The line-Up of ORIENTATION is as extraordinary as their music: it blends funk with soul, hip-hop with Oriental Sounds.”

Berliner Zeitung: „The band ORIENTATION demonstrates how these turkish-german musicians use the multicultural infrastructure provided by the city of Berlin. With their mixture of Jazz, Arabesk and Clubbeats this band can easily perform at World Music festivals as well as in Jazz clubs, in Turkish bars as well as on the stages of big arenas.“

Tip (Berlin): „indeed these musicians perform the bitter-sweet turkish traditional melodies together with Jazz and Club vibes. A remarkable performance!“

Spiegel-online: „…a grooving Band by the – telling – name of ORIENTATION, who inspired and galvanized the audience.“
Numblog.de: …those who love soulful, funky Grooves and also what people call World Music MUST listen to Orientation and shall not miss one of their rare performances…
Salaazy.org: „Orientation Biz“ offers the kind of music that only can be created in a city like Berlin and only within a true and heartful joint venture of turkish and german musicians.”
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung: ...some of their songs used the traditional 9/8 rhythm and turned it into Reggae and Funk. What a unique and new mixture…

IV. ORIENTATION Links
http://orientation.akuma.de
www.orientation-music.com
www.myspace.com/orientationmusic

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