Birol Topaloglu is one of the foremost folk musicians in Turkey today. He was born to a Laz family, in the small village of Apso, which is on the North Eastern shore of the Black Sea coast of Turkey, near the Georgian border. He grew up speaking the Lazuri language at home.
He started to sing in both Turkish and Lazuri, as well as his experiments in instrumentation drew serious attention. After having worked as an electronic engineer, at home in Turkey and abroad, he chose music as his primary career. Birol Topaloglu started by collecting the lullabies, and the ballads sung by his mother.
In 1997 he recorded the music of the Laz highlanders in Turkey. Later he traveled to Georgia to study the music of the Laz and the Mingrelians there. He used, for the first time among the laz in Turkey, a string instrument called the ̶chonguri and a wind instrument called ̶Philili. Birol also helped to develop a percussion instrument, ̶guni, inspired by the wood used to build beehives, adding to the repertoire of Laz folk instruments. The Laz Ensemble he formed was the only traditional Laz group in the world coming directly from Laz regions of Turkey and Georgia. Birol and Selim are from Turkey, Lily, Neli and Liana from Republic of Georgia. Their language, music and culture are under threat of disappearing.
The instruments in the Topaloglu live band are the traditional kemenche (a narrow, long bowed 3 string instrument), the tulum, called guda in Lazuri (double chanter polyphonic bagpipe), various drums and piano.
Discography
Heyamo (Kalan Muzik, 1997)
Aravani (Kalan Muzik, 2000)
Lazeburi ((Kalan Muzik, 2001)
Ezmoce ((Kalan Muzik, 2007)
Destani ((Kalan Muzik, 2007)
Kiyi Boyu Karadeniz (2011)
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.
