Tuesday, January 21, 2014

European Road Trip: Istanbul Grey

 
Robert "One Man" Johnson: Istanbul Grey
[purchase: from Amazon]

 
I present a one-of-a-kind clip produced just for you here with the express permission of the composer/musician: Istanbul Grey.

If you’re going to do a European Road Trip, you might as well go all the way to the edge. Istanbul: neither East nor West. Neither Europe nor Asia – a unique city that straddles both.

That seems to be part of Robert “One Man” Johnson’s quest: originally from the US, his music encompasses the rest. Robert  Johnson has done more than one “Road Trip”: Asia, Europe, the US. He’s put out a number of albums. More or less on his own. I’d be surprised if you had ever heard of him, but that's your loss: until now.

While in Turkey, he paired with – among others- Erkan Ogur, who plays the fretless guitar solo on this piece.  Here Erkan does an interpretation of a well-known Turkish folk song as part of his his solo. As for RJ: he's been on the road all over and I couldn't name them all: Istanbul, Shanghai, Yanbu, Bangkok ...

Having retired from many years teaching English all around the world  (and using his musical skills to do so), Robert is devoting more time to his music and "Housedogmusic" brand.

The “One Man” moniker derives from his unique ability as a one-man band: simultaneously singing, playing the guitar, percussion (high-hat) and a unique foot piano. All at the same time. Many/most of his instruments are home grown or highly personalized. To learn more, you can check his web site out here.

They call it "full disclosure" : A few years back, I managed to convince him to return to his roots for the Robert College Fine Arts Festival and he did me the return honor of calling me to the stage (here)

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