Mehmet Polat Trio on US Summer Tour

Sat, Aug 13 - Sun, Sep 11  2016

From August 13 until September 11, the Mehmet Polat Trio will embark on their second American tour. Departing from Vermont, the group will travel all the way through the Midwest to the West Coast, visiting places like De Moines and Los Angeles, before returning to the East coast to end their tour in New York City. 

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

Performances

• August 13: Skinny Pancake – Burlington, VT.
• August 14: Skinny Pancake – Hanover, NH.
• August 17: Ryles – Boston, MA.
• August 18: Lincoln Center Atrium – New York, NY.
• August 21: Chicago Academy of Music – Chicago, IL.
• August 23: Des Moines Social Club – De Moines, IO.
• August 24: Dakota’s Jazz – Minneapolis, MN. 
• August 26: Corazon Performing Arts – Los Angeles, CA. 
• August 28: The Mint – Los Angeles, CA.
• August 30: Sea of Glass- Tucson, AZ.
• August 31: Musical Instrument Museum – Phoenix, AZ.
• Sept 1: Doc’s Lab – San Francisco, CA.
• Sept 2: Kuumbwa Jazz – Santa Cruz, CA.
• Sept 3: Harris Center – Sacramento, CA. 
• Sept 4: The Jazz School – Berkeley, CA.
• Sept 7: University of Virgina – Richmond, VA.
• Sept 8: The Hill Center – Washington, DC
• Sept 9: Howland Cultural Center – Beacon, NY.
• Sept 10: Crossroads – Philadelphia, PA.
• Sept 11: Club Bonafide – New York, NY.

Workshops

• August 28: Corazon Performing Arts – Los Angeles, CA.
• Sept 4: The Jazz School – Berkeley, CA.
• Sept 7: University of Virginia – Richmond, VA.
• Sept 9: Poughkeepsie Day School – Poughkeepsie, NY.

About the Mehmet Polat Trio

Mehmet Polat was born and raised in Urfa, Turkey, 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 collaborated and experimented with many other musicians from around the world. After completing his conservatory studies of Indian music and self studies of Persian, Arabic, Flamenco and other musical styles, Polat discovered the inner world and spiritual side of the African music. He was touched especially the timbre of kora. With kora as the earth element, ud as space and ney as air, the idea of Mehmet Polat Trio was born.

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 unique 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.