LATIF BOLAT

A native of Mersin, Turkey, currently residing in the United States, a globally known and revered musician in the genre of Sufi music, Latif Bolat plays saz/baglama (Turkish long-necked lute) and sings devotionals by 13th Century mystic-poets Yunus Emre, Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi and others, as well as Turkish folk music, rarely heard in these parts. As a scholar of Turkish music, musical and socio-political history, Latif Bolat educates, while deeply moving and entertaining his audience with his ethereal take on the Sufi tradition and his fine musicianship. A typical evening concert is preceded by an engaging lecture/story-telling session peppered with poetry and breath-taking slide images of Turkey. Whirlers and other dancers of joy and surrender are common place, as Bolat's music is deeply spiritual and unwaveringly authentic!