Jordi Martí, from Enderrock, has published an amazing chronicle of the concert by Ali at the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa, 6th of October 2023. This is a part of his text and the pictures are made by Eric Van Nieuwland:
“There is something that, at least for the moment, still escapes so-called artificial intelligence, which quantifies everything. Let’s talk about human emotion. The soul-shaking demons. Ali Doğan Gönültaş has plenty of this, delighting the public on the second day of Fira Mediterrània of Manresa […] You have to be brave to present yourself in a scenario as you are, without additives of any kind. And this is where we return to Ali Doğan, an Anatolian artist based in Istanbul who transmitted a rare authenticity to see on the international circuit in the auditorium of the Elm Plain. There is the strength of his singing, now accompanied by tembur now with acoustic guitar, and the grace of the percussionist and clarinetist who support him. There is the invaluable help of a hand program that tells you that the repertoire touches on the universal themes of universal folk: repressed cultures, poor people who aspire to love, young people who have to go far by force to make a soldier. But above all there is the spontaneity and fluid communication that this artist knows how to generate between his musicians and the audience.”
