maNga at Istanbulive in NYC

A little background:

Istanbulive in New York city is a free summer concert in Central Park. The past two years were very well attended and caught some really good press from places like The New Yorker, National Geographic, NBC and the Lucid Culture blog dubbed it "Turkish Woodstock". Unfortunately, this year in question because of funding, but the advertising is going full steam ahead...so I thought I'd let you know about it after all. (Check out the strategic tulip in the logo.)

One of the confirmed artists, Zülfü Livaneli , sings a more traditional set- which the entire crowd seems to know the words for - just hum along. He's famous enough that when U2 went to Istanbul, he sang a couple songs onstage with them. He's internationally aclaimed for his film scores and has been to Cannes. French newspaper, Le Matin, says he's a real poet. And he is.

According to Instanbulive, The New York Gypsy All-Stars (NYGA), masters of contemporary Balkan Gypsy music, is a musical chemistry experiment with explosive staying power. Living up to their name in every way, the NYGA blend traditional Gypsy and Turkish melodies with a scorching jazz and funk backbone, creating a unique sound that satisfies the brain and soul. The band exemplifies New York in the most eclectic sense possible, hailing from Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Brooklyn.

They sound pretty good, if you ask me.

But the real purpose of my post is the alternative rock band, maNga. Their title, Beni Benimle Birak is on my playlist for Burnt Amber, and I just think some of their songs are really cool. Some are a little crazy, but... they definitely have fun with manga of the other sort in their video clips.

So, if you're in NYC on Friday, June 17th, 2011, check it out!