Misirli Ahmet (Ahmet Yildirim) is a Turkish virtuoso darbuka player. His music spans various genres and carries influences from Indian, Arabic, Latin American and Jazz music.
Ahmet Yildirimstarted his music life playing a
Turkish-style darbuka. He states that he was a fairly ordinary player before his travel to Egypt, to play with and learn from some of the best darbuka players; most of all "to find the meaning of his existence" and "to discover the rhythm". Yıldırım lived in the desert-bound valley of Cairo, during which he developed his unique technique, now known as the split-finger technique, which allows for very quick playing.
Yıldırım came to be known as "Mısırlı Ahmet" (Ahmet of Egypt) after his journey. He is called "Ahmed el Turkî" (Turkish Ahmet) in Egypt.
He accompanied a lot of musicians and bands all through 1990s most of which were the biggest stars in their genre. Just as 90s were folding he was back in Egypt again, this time taking the road to the Sinai desert where he concentrated on the deholla which is the bigger size ceramic darbuka. It was the time when his interest in jazz, Indian fusion and world music peaked.
Working with some masterful Spanish, Jewish and Turkish jazz/world music musicians of the day, the fruits of his work in this period appeared on two seminal albums, “Mel De Cabra” (2000) and “The Search” (2001), The Search also eventually becoming the name of his jazz-ethnic fusion band. His work as the top darbuka session musician around was going on in the first years of the new millenium but in the meanwhile his restless passion for exploration of new new sounds, enriching his technique on deholla (and surely on all forms of darbuka), perfecting his sense of rhythm harmony and find original beats on darbuka along with brand new interpretations of traditional ones. He performed many solo and band concerts all over Turkey, Europe and many other places of the world.
With the dream of revealing the musical and folkloric richness of Anatolia, Balkans and the Mediterranean as well as the rhythmic abundance and integrating the culture of East and West in the magical realm of rhythm; he founded Galata Rhythm Academy and Istanbul Rhythm Foundation in 2007. Academy and Foundation provides training and workshops, organize musical and cultural events, and an annual rhythm and art retreat bringing together music, dance, theater, visual arts, and various other art forms. Currently, the Academy is building an art village in Southern Turkey as a meeting point of professional and nonprofessional artists, students and public with trainings, camps, concerts, festivals and other events.
“If science is figuring out the secrets of the universe, then rhythm is the way to figure out the secrets of life.”
More information may be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/ahmetmisirlihttps://www.facebook.com/pages/M%C4%B1s%C4%B1rl%C4%B1-Ahmet/6293786143
