Eastern mediterranean rhythms and sounds meet pop songwriting and electronic ambiences. Traditional instruments such as oud, saz, bedir and pontic lyra melt together with electronic sounds, electric guitar and sequencer programming. This is kara deniz – the musical project that was initiated by Savvas Pavlidis, a greek-born and cologne-based musician and composer. Through the collaboration with the berlin-based singer Johanna Fassbender and other musicians from greece and turkey including Thimios Atzakas (arabian oud), Pantelis Pavlidis (pontic lyra), Kemal Dinc (saz) and Maria Simoglou (bedir) a unique blend of the two musical worlds emerged. The interaction between tradional elements, programmed beats and atmospheric sounds creates a new landscape of sound with its own musical language, still pointing to its roots: traditional greek and eastern mediterranean music. The song, however, remains the focal point of the musical compositions. Johanna Fassbender’s intense voice adds perfectly to the atmospheric mood of the songs. The english-language lyrics are universally understood – greek and turkish text fragments complement them. This is how kara deniz’s characteristic mix of pop songwriting, mediterranean rhythms and oriental mysticism is created.
