(headline image: Ali Doğan Gönültaş performing live at Polirítmia in 2023 – Photo by Susana Godoy.)
Ali Doğan Gönültaş, born in Kiğı, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, pursued his education at Kocaeli University, specializing in Archaeology, Radio TV, and Cinema. He embarked on his professional music journey with Ze Tijê, a band he co-founded, contributing as a composer, performer, and lead singer. The band toured extensively in Turkey and released two studio albums, Yanlışımız Var! (2015) and Ur (2019), exploring post-rock and experimental genres.
Since 2018, Gönültaş has been conducting solo concerts under the series “Xo Bi Xo,” presenting songs in Kurmanci, Turkish, and Zazaki, his mother tongue, mixing experimental and traditional elements. Parallel to his music career, he has pursued oral history and field research.
Gönültaş has contributed to film soundtracks such as “My Own Life” (2014) and “Şeng” (2021) and participated as a composer in projects like “City’s Voice as an Example of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Diyarbakır).” Additionally, he hosted the television program “Voices and Traces” in 2020 and currently produces and presents “Müzik Olayı” for Can TV.
In 2022, Gönültaş was enlisted by the son of Seîdê Goyî, a traditional Botan music dengbej, to arrange and produce the EP Stranên Dilê Min (songs of my heart, in Kurdish).
In May 2022, Gönültaş released his first solo album, Kiğı, a culmination of over a decade of field research, featuring works in regional languages like Krmancki, Kurmanci, Kirdaski, Armenian, and Turkish. The album, aimed at preserving cultural memory through stylized performances and ethnomusicological data, attained significant recognition, reaching #1 in the Balkan World Music Charts and #11 in the Transglobal World Music Chart.
Subsequently, in April 2024, Gönültaş released his second solo album, Keyeyî, meaning “Homes” in Zazaki, and Elver in Turkish.
On live performances, Ali Doğan Gönültaş plays the tembur and acoustic guitar, accompanied by Ali Kutlutürk on percussion and Fırat Çakılcı on clarinet.
Find out more about the artist in this interview: A Chat with Ali Doğan Gönültaş.
Discography:
Kiğı (Ali Doğan Gönültaş/Mapamundi Records, 2022)
Keyeyî (2024)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.