Singout!
A fascinating look at a historical figure, this recording is essential for anyone interested in Turkish music.

The Beat
"...like the George Shearing of Asia Minor, his playing is charged with the heartache of a levee’s worth of bluesmen..."

Victory Review
"... a man who, like Jascha Heifetz or Earl Scruggs, revolutionized the use of the instrument."

Album Profile:
Udi Hrant Kenkulian, the blind master of the Ud, the twelve-stringed, fretless lute is regarded as the grandfather of modern ud playing and one of the most unique singers of what some refer to as the Middle-Eastern Blues. In Turkey, he is known as Hrant Emre, meaning "of the soul." Following the success of the first Udi Hrant album (TCROS 4265) we have compiled the complete early recordings transferred from the original discs, including many of his original compositions, rare recordings of Hrant playing the violin, and ud solos. Also included are his most famous taksims (improvisations) recorded when Hrant was only nineteen. Digitally remastered, each volume contains over an hour of music, detailed liner notes and rare photographs.

Hrant Vol 1. CD/Cassette 4270 1) Sirdus Vera Kar mu ga 3:01 2) Siroon Aghhoon Acheek 2:57 3) Haygagan bar 2:48 4) Kalbimde Yaran 3:03 5) Sana Olan Askimi 2:34 6) Hüseyni saz semai 6:28 7) Setaraban taksim 7:01 8) Suzinak taksim 5:57 9) Egin Havasi 3:25 10) Hüzzam Violin taksim 2:41 11) Urfa Havasi 3:05 12) Hicaz Violin taksim 3:01 13) Ne Çapkin Dudagin 2:49 14) Saba taksim 3:09 15) Mehtâba Sordum 2:49 16) Hicaz taksim çifte kiris 3:09 17) Geçmis güzel günleri 3:05 18) Hüzzam taksim 3:12

Hrant Vol. II CD/Cassette 4271 1) Neva Hicaz taksim 3:08 2) Hastayim Yasiyorum 3:12 3) Çifte telli 2:52 4) Sevdâliyim 3:10 5) Derdimin dermâni yok 3:01 6) Anadol Oyun Havasi 3:09 7) Sensiz n’idem 3:03 8) Nihavent taksim 3:10 9) Memories of the Dardanelles 3:18 10) Dancing Maidens 3:10 11) Hrant’s lament 3:03 12) On the Shores of the Bosphorus 3:34 13) Near Eastern Airs 4:00 14) Fortune Tellers Dream 3:06 15) Agin 4:06 16) Çifte Telli 3:05 17) Kürdili hicazkâr taksim 3:13 18) Hüseyni taksim 3:24 19) Hüzzam taksim 3:18