Born in Turkey but living in Boston, the duo at the heart of Neotolia frame musical traditions of their homeland in late-20th-century settings that suggest everything from ethereal prog rock to the exoticism of Dead Can Dance. Vocalist Nazan Nihal rises from mellow to intense in a pulse beat while pianist Utar Artun weaves the fluid forms of jazz through many numbers. Neotolian Song is rooted not only in the idea of Anatolia as an East-West crossroads, but as the ancient home of many peoples—Turks, Kurds and Armenians among them.
