Baba Zula

About

Baba Zula (also styled BaBa ZuLa) is a Turkish band from Istanbul, founded in 1996 by Levent Akman and Murat Ertel. The group fuses traditional instruments such as the electric saz, darbuka and spoons with electronica, dub and reggae, developing a signature style known as "Istanbul psychedelia". They have toured internationally for decades and count musicians from Can, Einstürzende Neubauten and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds among their admirers.

1996

founded in Istanbul

80.6K

monthly listeners on Spotify

30min30s

exact playing time on the anniversary album XXX

18+

concerts on the European tour

What's new

2026-09-25
Baba Zula releases the anniversary album XXX on the record label Glitterbeat on the occasion of the band's 30th birthday.
2026-06
The band unveiled the album with the single 'Kutsal Zeytin Halayı', which combines Anatolian roots with hypnotic motorik groove.
okt 2026
Baba Zula kicks off a major autumn tour in Europe with stops in Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Prague, Vienna and Munich, among others.
2026
The band celebrates 30 years as a group and describes on the new album their continued focus on environmental crisis and resistance to commercialization.