(MASTER) SELIM SESLER - THE COLTRANE OF THE CLARINET

"He played through a kaleidoscope of styles that embraced Turkish, Greek, Jewish, Bulgarian, Armenian and Arabian music, and went off on a few jazz riffs just for fun.

This man was the Coltrane of the clarinet, and he was dying of cancer unrecognised at 45."

Selim Sesler was born into a professional musician family in Edirne, Keşan village in 1957.

After the population exchange of 1923, his family moved from Greece to Turkey and settled in an enclave of Keşan called Ibriktepe where they lived in the Yeni Mescit neighborhood. He first learned to play the zurna (reed horn) then switched to Turkish clarinet (clarinet in G).

In the 1980s Sesler participated in Romanes musician’s group, which performed in big cities like Istanbul, and developed his skill. He gained experience and recorded a lot of material by playing at restaurants with fasil groups and weddings. He also played clarinet at musical stages in the Ferhan Şensoy theatre. In 1998 with Brenna MacCrimmon, Sesler participated in the music tour in Canada and introduced Turkish Romanes and Rumerlian roots.

 

He investigated regional music and developed his repertoires and style which reflect Romanes music. Sesler has recorded many CDs and albums, and played in the documentary film, Istanbul Hatırası (Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul) (director Fatih Akın, 2004) and the film, Duvara Karşı (Head-On) (director: Fatih Akın, 2004).

Aside from being invited to play at many important festivals in countries such as Germany, France and Sweden, Sesler has performed many special concerts over the past two years. He has also taught at music workshops in the United States.