For the past two years, Burhan Öcals Istanbul Oriental Ensemble has been touring the concert halls of Europe with resounding success. Wherever they appeared -- at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the World Music Festival in Nantes, the Summer Festival in Hamburg or the Casino Festival in Basel -- they met with rapturous applause, standing ovations and endless calls for encores. The music press has been equally enthusiastic. London´s Mojo magazine described them as "breathtaking magicians of sound", while Le Monde claimed that "the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble headed by one of the world´s most virtuoso percussionists opens up a whole new dimension in Turkish gypsy music". In Germany, the Hamburger Morgenpost reported on their music as "highly erotic, great listening and incredibly conducive to trance,"