Ugur Sürücü Is "The Man"

If you want to catch a great performance by a performer who might be considered the Turkish equivalent of Van The Man Morrison, get to the Divan Restaurant in Southeastern Berlin on a Thursday or Saturday night, to the Kreuzberg neighborhood (this writer has caught both acts in recent years).

The most recent was a very soulful Thursday night in September, 2009, at the Divan Restaurant, Kommandantensr. 34, 10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg. (Van The Man’s act was caught in Granada, Spain, in 2006.)

In ancient times -- I am talking ancient as in more than a thousand years ago -- singer/poets in Ugur Sürücü’s native Turkey were the rock stars of their time. They recited poetry and sang songs that had listeners spellbound.

To see that history carried on by a great singer and great instrumentalist (accompanied by another fine instrumentalist) get to the Divan Restaurant.

You may dine, or just enjoy a cold Efes beer – but don’t miss this great performer (you can also sample some of his sounds at http://de.myspace.com.grupendar); this is great "World Music."

(Photo: "Brandenburg Tor (Gate): A Different View" © copyright Paul Heidelberg.

Charlie Parker Lives

BAD BERKA BLUESFESTIVAL 2009 GERMANY

Saturday, June 6, the day's bluesy rain stopped just in time for me to stay dry as I caught nice gigs at this annual blues event in the town of Bad Berka, near Weimar. American bluesman Tom Shaka came to the gig during a cold, steady rain, carrying his guitar and pulling a suitcase behind him -- a bluesy sight indeed. Later, after the "sky stopped crying," I caught Shaka singing, playing guitar and jamming with a mean blues harp, in the first of the two acts I caught that night. Shaka excused himself to get to another gig before the Pass Over Blues band, a German group, took the staqe at the amphitheatre in the little town that was a favorite of the great German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Goethe discovered the springs in Bad Berka that have attracted visitors to this part of central Germany since the early 1800s).

During the Pass Over Blues' slow numbers, the audience got down with some "toe tappin' and head noddin'" and during the more uptempo Chicago style blues songs, the band had festival goers "dancin' and hollerin'."

Two of the events sponsors, Bad Berka's Hotel am Goethebrunnen ("Goethe Springs") and the very good regional beer Radeberger, served cold half liters of Radeberger vom fass, draft beer, in the distinctive half liter Radeberger glass (this writer was surprised glass was used, not plastic, as would be the case Stateside).

Other drinks were also available, including the town's famed mineral water, that flows freely from a fountain near the kurpark where the event took place, and, of course, Jagermeister.

Bad Berka (website www.bad-berka.de) will also host the "heavy metal friends" party.san Festival August 8 to 11 (for more info, visit www.party-san.de).

(Photograph of the Ilm River that flows through Bad Berka (c) Paul Heidelberg.)

THE BAND OF HEATHENS, AMERICAN BAND FROM TEXAS, PLAYS EUROPE THIS WEEK

A ROCKIN' BAND FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS, THE BAND OF HEATHENS, HAS GIGS THAT INCLUDE LONDON, AMSTERDAM, AT THE PARADISO WHERE THE ROLLING STONES HAVE PLAYED, AND GERMANY, THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 6, IN HAMBURG. CHECK www.bandofheathens.com for details.

CHARLIE PARKER IN PARIS STORY, FROM PARIS

This is a real, on the run, blog.

So I am getting off the flight from Dulles in DC to CDG in Paris on March 26, 2009, and I am talking to a brother from Chicago about the blues and jazz. I started by telling him I am working on a fiction project, "The Bluesmen."

He says, "Yeah, well I'm from Chicago, home of the blues."

"Yeah," I said, "after the blues greats moved up from the Mississippi Delta -- John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, all those great guys. I was in Clarksdale, Mississippi a year ago this month. The heart of the Delta Blues country. And when you see how big those cotton fields are, you get an idea of how the blues was born there."

Then I thought very quickly of alto sax great, Charlie Parker, The Bird. I got very emotional.

"You know," I said, "Charlie Parker flies into Paris and he's getting off the plane. All these people are applauding and cheering. The Bird looks around, and then realizes: They're cheering for me, man. They're cheering for me."

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