Migrante by Alper Tuzcu

Multi-Instrumentalist composer, Berklee College of Music alumnus, and GRAMMY Voting Member Alper Tuzcu announces the release of Migrante (Palma Records) on February 21, 2020. Migrante is Part 1 of a 3-volume project that explores cultural connections, cultural memory and multiculturalism in 21st century. The EP will be available on the following streaming platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Pandora, Tidal and Deezer.

Migrante is largely informed by Alper Tuzcu's travels as an international touring musician to cross borders and and bridge cultures through his innovative compositions. This EP features 3 songs, including a composition of Pablo Neruda’s poem titled, “Con Ella.”

‘Canção do Pássaro' is Alper Tuzcu’s second song in Portuguese. While the song is largely based on the Fado style from Portugal, it introduces a mild twist with percussions inspired by bolero accompanying Brazilian vocalist Helena Beltrão.

“Con Ella” is a composition by Alper Tuzcu featuring Ecuadorian vocalist Micaella Cattani. The song is also a composition of the Pablo Neruda poem with the same title. Off from Neruda’s 1958 book Estravagario, the poem is an example of the Latin American anti-poetry movement that sought to break free of traditional forms of poetry and create newer, liberated forms of expression. In this way, “Con Ella” is a homage to Pablo Neruda and modern Latin American literature, which have greatly inspired Alper Tuzcu as a songwriter.

The title Migrante, which means “migrant” in Spanish and Portuguese, not only highlights the culture-spanning nature of the music, but also underlines the main themes of the EP: movement and freedom. In this way, the EP is an aural statement of what humanity can achieve when a group of people come together to bridge different musical cultures. In fact, Migrante features a select group of musicians who are alumni of Berklee College of Music, from countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, the United States and Turkey.

Migrante was written in Barcelona in 2019 after Tuzcu read Strange Pilgrims, a collection of short stories about immigrants written by Gabriel García-Márquez, which coincidentally is also largely set in Barcelona. As a multicultural city marked by with many different sounds and traditions, Barcelona inspired Alper Tuzcu to compose music exploring varied musical worlds such as Flamenco, Fado, Jazz and Classical Music.

Alper Tuzcu is an innovative composer, songwriter, guitarist, and one of the most unique baglama (Turkish string music instrument) performers in the world. The Istanbul-born composer, who lives in the United States, uses his multicultural compositions to bridge cultures and cross borders. A GRAMMY Voting Member, he previously worked twice with Spanish flamenco virtuoso, producer and composer Javier Limón (Buika, Paco de Lucía, Wynton Marsalis). He released his second album Aurora from Palma Records in 2018, and his debut album Between 12 Waters in 2016, which consists of 12 songs inspired by 12 different cultures. Alper Tuzcu graduated from Berklee College of Music with Magna Cum Laude in 2015 after winning a scholarship at Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy.

Alper Tuzcu is a composer, producer and a guitarist who creates music that erodes cultural borders.

His music has been featured on NPR, BBC Radio, RTVé, and many others.

He collaborated with Grammy-winning musicians such as Marcelo Woloski (Snarky Puppy) and Ganavya (Esperanza Spalding, Residente).

alpertuzcu.com