Tülay German & François Rabbath

Vocalist Tülay German cut her teeth as a jazz singer in Istanbul nightclubs in the early 60s before bursting onto the Anatolian pop scene in 1964 with ‘Burçak Tarlasi’, the first of a string of hits. However, like many Turkish artists of her generation, she felt the pinch of repressive government, and immigrated to France in 1966, where she reinvented herself as the Francophone chanteuse Toulaï. By 1980, she'd reverted to her mother tongue, teaming up with Syrian-born French double bassist François Rabbath to cut this debut album that same year.

For her repertoire, she delved into the well of songs traditionally sung by the wandering aşik bards, as well as the work of persecuted communist poet Nâzim Hikmet. The influence of Turkish classical music is clearly present in German's lachrymose swoops and swoons, while her solemn intonation and precise diction grant her the kind of authority heard in folk legend Ruhi Su's recordings. Rabbath's simple arrangements of unadorned saz and supple double bass suggest a Turkish take on the jazz-folk innovations of Pentangle but this is, at heart, a collection of laments firmly in the tradition, imbued with the longing of exile.