Altin Gün, with Pachyman
In 2019, Altin Gün became the first Turkish-language band to ever be nominated for a Grammy Award.
It was a doubly notable achievement for the one-woman, five-man group. whose psychedelic-tinged folk-rock is built on centuries-old traditional Turkish songs that feature the seven-stringed saz alongside more contemporary instrumentation.
Equally notable, Altin Gün — which translates as “Golden Day” — was formed in 2016 by a Dutch bassist, Jasper Verhulst — who cannot speak or read a word of Turkish.
Two of the band’s other members are also from the Netherlands. Altin Gün’s standout female singer, Merve Dasdemir, is a native of Istanbul. Its other vocalist, keyboard and saz player Erdinc Ecevit, is the Dutch-born son of Turkish immigrant parents. Both he and Dasdemir sing exclusively in Turkish.
Yet, while Altin Gün champions Turkish folk music traditions through a psych-rock prism, the band’s members are not bound by those traditions even as they celebrate them.
Their version of “Kara Toprak” — a beloved 1969 song by Turkish poet Âşık Veysel — replaces the sparse tone and instrumentation of the original with wah-wah guitar, darting, horn-like synthesizer grooves and a snappy dance beat. Likewise, Altin Gün’s take on “Yüce Dağ Başında” has a reggae-ish lilt, while classic-rock-tinged guitar parts anchor a good number of the band’s songs.
Altin Gün which played at the 2022 Coachella festival, is now touring to promote its fifth album, “Ask.” The band did not create folk-based Turkish psychedelia, which started in the 1970s with such artists as Selda Bağcan, Baris Manço and Erkin Koray.
But Altin Gün — a name that suggests a Turkish variation on Bob Dylan’s early musical alter ego, Elston Gunn — is another welcome example of how well music can transcend genres and languages when groove is in the heart.
8 p.m. Wednesday. The Music Box, 1337 India Street, downtown. Sold out. (619) 795-1337; musicbox.sd
Delicate Steve
Indie-rock guitar heroes are increasingly rare, but Steve Marion — who uses the stage name Delicate Steve — is a happy exception.
A versatile six-string performer, he plays with consistent skill and good taste. Marion’s musical gifts and disdain for flashy pyrotechnics have caught the ear of other artists. His past collaborators range from The Black Keys and Paul Simon to Tame Impala and Mac DeMarco, and he’s been sampled by Kanye West.
Marion’s vocal-like six-string phrasing is especially notable. So is his slide-guitar work, which builds on the legacies of George Harrison and Duane Allman while avoiding blues-rock tropes. Where his previous albums found Marion relishing different ways to make his instrument not sound like a conventional guitar, his latest — “After Hours” — goes the other way.
Performed entirely on a 1966 Fender Stratocaster, the album celebrates unadulterated six-string playing with a guitar, an amp and almost no electronic effects at all. It’s a winning, less-is-more combination.
8:30 p.m. Saturday. The Casah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. $16 (must be 21 or older to attend). casbahmusic.com
Curtis Taylor & the University of Iowa Professors Of Jazz
Former San Diego trumpet dynamo Curtis Taylor is now on the music faculty of the University of Iowa.
The school’s jazz department is this week conducting a Southern California student recruitment tour. It includes stops today at Mission Bay High School and Cal State San Marcos (where Taylor used to teach).
Then comes a Saturday concert here at the all-ages Dizzy’s, where the ace local rhythm section of bassist Justin Grinell and drummer Tyler Kreutel will be featured.
