Next Spring – Mehmet Polat

Mehmet Polat Trio

Next spring

Sinan Arat, Ney

Zoumana Diarra, Kora

Mehmet Polat, Ud

1- One drop in the ocean 4:32

2- There life begins again 6:21

3- Summer dream 5:33

4- Next spring 7:07

5- Mehtab 3:59

6- You are not alone 4:46

7- Whirling in the jungle 8:49

8- The day will come 9:58

9- Missing you 3:14

10- Amarula 3:38 Total time: 57:57

All compositions by Mehmet Polat

The Mehmet Polat Trio is a spiritual yet adventurous meeting of three masters of their magical instruments: ney, kora and ud. With roots in the Ottoman, ancient Anatolian, Balkan and West African music traditions, the trio welcomes you with its musical authenticity. The original compositions are colored by daring improvisations and grooves, presented in an atmosphere of chamber music. The Mehmet Polat Trio invites you to a sincere musical journey from the past to the present.

Mehmet Polat was born and raised in Urfa, and studied Ottoman music in Istanbul. His new approach to ud playing and his broadened vision towards music making brought him to Amsterdam in 2007, where he infused his music with that of many other musicians of the world. He soon met kora master Zoumana Diarra, also an excellent guitarist, ngoni and balafon player. During an Alevi spiritual ceremony in Rotterdam in 2012, Mehmet met Sinan Arat. Upon discovering Sinan’s spiritual wisdom, his mastery on the ney and his open mind for the music, the first seeds of the trio were already sown.

The three of them had many enriching experiences playing their non-Western instruments as soloists and color musicians among artists from classical, jazz and other Western genres. In the new constellation of the Mehmet Polat Trio, the ney, kora and ud assume the main roles, with ample freedom to explore the full capacity of each instrument in the mix.

The musicians value the traditional, spiritual character of their instruments and at the same time the opportunities to innovate with them. Mehmet added two extra bass strings to his ud, expanding the instrument’s function and color in the overall sound. Zoumana added half-tone tuning clips to each string of his kora, to accommodate different tonalities. Sinan has played flutes from India to Western Europe, and brings these influences to his Turkish ney playing.

From the first sessions, Zoumana and Sinan were enthusiastic about the diversity in the tone, makam and rhythm choices in Mehmet’s compositions. From there they seized the challenge of playing and developing them. One of the main goals during the rehearsals was to connect not only musically but also personally and culturally. The Mehmet Polat Trio became not only the musical meeting of ud, ney and kora, but also about the connection between Mehmet, Sinan and Zoumana.