Hans Lüdemann and his French-German octet TransEuropeExpress have started their long-term Pan-European project On the Edges in 2019 and are now presenting the premiere of the fourth edition entitled Oriental Express. This ensemble of outstanding soloists now welcomes the great Ney flutist Burcu Karadağ from Istanbul as their special guest. She is an international soloist with classical orchestras, but also improvises and collaborates with jazz musicians. Hans Lüdemann has spent several longer periods as an artist in residence in Istanbul between 2021 and 2024, and they have been working with Burcu as a duo since then, including performances at CRR Philharmonic Hall and AKM in Istanbul. They developed a program of original music and also made re-interpretations of some pieces of oriental music like Kendim Ettim by Neset Ertas.

The Ney flute is the core instrument of oriental and Turkish music, even constituting the names of different scales and tonalities. The character of the Ney is quite different from the Western flute as it requires a lot more air for the sound to be produced. This means that the music needs more space between the notes – and also behind them. The secret of the Ney is to connect us with a different, spiritual level. Hans Lüdemann has created new compositions and arrangements that give room for the special magic of the Ney flute and reflect his experience of Istanbul and the Orient in a poetic way. Hans Lüdemann, the TransEuropeExpress and Burcu Karadağ are also recording the music for a new album to be released on BMC Records.

On the Edges is a Pan-European initiative to be realized in 5 different projects and album productions, each of them a creative musical encounter reaching to a border region of Europe and beyond. The idea, originally inspired by Navid Kermani’s book Along the trenches, has been transformed into the creation of a broad mosaic of musical colors within this frame. Each project is developed and realized in cooperation and exchange with guest artists and/or composers from the specific regions. The thread that finally connects all of the projects is a composition by Lüdemann in several parts, coming together to form a complete musical picture. The previous albums in the series were released on BMC Records: the critically acclaimed Maghreb Express with Majid Bekkas, Polar Express with Kalle Kalima and Sofia Jernberg, and, most recently, Roman Express with Rita Marcotulli and Luciano Biondini, which was nominated for the Deutscher Jazzpreis 2024.