American jazz artist Nyofu Tyson, a fan of Aşık Veysel, plays around 40 works by Turkish folk poets such as Yunus Emre, Pir Sultan Abdal, Karacaoğlan and Köroğlu with bağlama, an instrument with three double strings, and performs them in Turkish and English.
Aşık tradition is a practice that folk poets perform poetry - sometimes in call-and-response duets - in the accompaniment of bağlama. The tradition is crucial in terms of transferring Anatolian culture to future generations.
Nyofu Tyson, 70, who came to Turkey's Sivas to shoot a documentary on bağlama making and the tradition of minstrelsy, visited the Sivas bağlama master Şentürk Iyidoğan in his workshop.
Jazz artist Tyson interpreted Aşık Veysel's works in Turkish and English at the "Museum of Lovers" created by Iyidoğan in the workshop.
Tyson said that he went to travel the world at the age of 20 and when he first came to Turkey, he fell in love with bağlama and started playing it.
Stating that he loves Turkish folk music and the minstrel tradition, Tyson said that he has translated the works of many minstrels into English.
Noting that he first came to Turkey in 1973, when Aşık Veysel passed away, Tyson said, "His name was on everyone's lips. I was onstage as a double bass player with the folk music team and we had 'On A Long Narrow Road I Am' in our repertoire. Then I had just begun to learn Turkish. I opened the door to Aşık Veysel's internal world and entered it," he said.
Thinking that it would be more natural to read the folk songs in his own language, he translated the works into English. "I tried to translate the deep meanings of these works into English with the idea that other people could understand them. From Aşık Veysel, I translated 'On A Long Narrow Road I Am,' 'The Dark Earth,' and 12 other works into English. I also translated nearly 40 works of other poets such as Yunus Emre, Pir Sultan Abdal, Karacaoğlan and Köroğlu," he added.
Tyson said that he studied and read Aşık Veysel's life and was very impressed by the life of the great poet.
Bağlama master Şentürk Iyidogan said that he met Tyson many years ago. Emphasizing that it is very important for an American artist to introduce Aşık Veysel's works to the international arena and read them both in English and Turkish, "I think Nyofu is a very good opportunity to introduce Aşık Veysel to the world," he said.
Tyson's "Minstrels and Mystics" album can be listened to on YouTube.
