| Şehrazat | |
| Birth Name: | Şehrazat Kemali Söylemezoğlu |
| Alias: | Şehro, Scheherazade, Şehrazad |
| Birth Date: | 1952 9, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Ankara, Turkey |
| Origin: | Istanbul, Ankara |
| Genre: | Vocal jazz, Turkish music, traditional pop, third stream, synthpop, swing revival, soft rock, schlager, rhythm and blues, ragtime, psychedelic music, power pop, pop rock, jump blues, Italo disco, indie pop, glam rock, Europop, Euro disco, easy listening, disco house, deep house, dance-pop, cool jazz, chanson, Britpop, bebop, avant-garde jazz, Arabesque, Americana, a cappella |
| Occupation: | Businesswoman, celebutante, composer, lyricist, performance artist, record producer, singer-songwriter, soloist, television personality, vocalist |
| Instrument: | Vocals |
| Years Active: | 1967–present |
| Label: | Odeon Records, EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Şehrazat Music, Disco Plak by Selahattin Beyazıt and Antuan Şoriz, İstanbul Gelişim Orchestra, Süheyl Denizci Orchestra, ... |
| Associated Acts: | Ajda Pekkan, Sezen Aksu, Aysel Gürel, Garo Mafyan, Arif Mardin, Sertab Erener, Bengü, Mustafa Ceceli, Mustafa Sandal, Kenan Doğulu, Sibel Tüzün, Bülent Ersoy, Nil Burak, Nilüfer, Ferhat Göçer, Dalida, Meltem Cumbul, Nil Karaibrahimgil, Hülya Avşar, Zerrin Özer,[1] Nükhet Duru, Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan, Manos Loïzos, Seda Sayan, Uğur Dikmen, Volga Tamöz, Adil Omar, Yeliz, Gülben Ergen,[2] [3] Yıldız Kaplan, Ayşe Özyılmazel, Reyhan Karaca, Paul Michael Barry, Muazzez Abacı, Rony Uzay Heparı, Candan Erçetin, Niran Ünsal, Tuğba Özerk, Altay, Gökben, Alpay, Seden Gürel, Ferda Anıl Yarkın, Kerim Tekin, Ozan Doğulu, Haris Alexiou, Anna Vissi,[4] Aşkın Nur Yengi, Emel Müftüoğlu, Demet Sağıroğlu, Asya, Nâlân, Sibel Can, Yeşim Salkım,[5] Mark Taylor, Ferdi Özbeğen, Gökhan Özen, Yonca Evcimik, Ayşegül Aldinç, Cömert Baykent, Jan Jan Kızlar, Ufuk Çakır, Ozan Orhon, Band AF, Meyra,[6] etc.[7] |
Şehrazat Kemali Söylemezoğlu (born 3 September 1952), known by her stage name Şehrazat or Şehro, is a Turkish television personality, businesswoman, philanthropist, composer, songwriter, record producer, occasional jazz, and pop music singer.
Her father S. Siham Kemali Söylemezoğlu (d. 13 April 1981; Vienna) was a notable businessman and was considered to be the first mining magnate of Turkey. Her grandfather is Süleyman Şefik Pasha, the son of the Beylerbey of Rumelia Ali Kemali Pasha who is the only brother of Edhem Pertev Pasha and one of the former governors of Konya. Her mother Sevinç Tevs was the sister of artist Sevim Tevs and the daughter of the Turkish ambassador to the Republic of Albania. She was the first internationally known jazz singer of Turkey and described by the authorities as having one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century.[8] [9] She was regarded as a diva since she surpassed Sarah Vaughan and won the 1948 Miami Jazz Festival, with the song "For You" that was composed by their family friend Arif Mardin, the 12-time Grammy Award winning Turkish-American music producer. She graduated from the International School of Choueifat, in Beirut, Lebanon in 1970. It was her parents' wish that she attend it for the sake of a better education.[10] Prior to this, she spent the vast majority of her childhood in Turkey.[11] Şehrazat is exceedingly fluent in Turkish, Arabic, French, and English.
As an only child from an affluent family, Şehrazat has received a large amount of mass media's attention due to her wealth and lifestyle. However, she has a half-brother Süleyman Şefik Söylemezoğlu named after their paternal grandfather, who is the son of Aynur Bıyıktay-Söylemezoğlu (the daughter of Ömer Halis Bıyıktay and the niece of Kâzım Karabekir, from her mother's side). Şehrazat's maternal great-grandfather is the most widely recognized composer of Turkish Classical Music, Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi. Having been married to the daughter of diplomat and author Galip Kemali Söylemezoğlu, the great uncle of Şehrazat, Hüsrev Gerede is her uncle by marriage. In addition to this, among her uncles are Cevdet Çağla, a famous composer of Turkish music and Prof. Dr. Hamit Kemali Söylemezoğlu,[12] the architect of Anıtkabir and Taşkışla. Besides, journalist Mithat Perin (preceptor of Abdi İpekçi), diplomat Özer F. Tevs, politician Selim Sarper, and diplomat Yüksel Söylemez are also her close relatives.[13] Some of the grandsons and granddaughters of His Imperial Majesty Mehmet V Reshad, the Emperor of the Ottomans and the Caliph of the Faithful such as HH Prince Cengiz Osmanoğlu, HH Prince Ömer Fevzi Osmanoğlu, HH Mihrimah Sultana are Şehrazat's cousins. Thus, Şehrazat's aunt Perizat Söylemezoğlu-Perin, formerly HH Princess Perizat Söylemezoğlu-Osmanoğlu, was the spouse of HH Prince Mehmet Nazım Osmanoğlu—the eldest son of HIH Prince Mehmed Ziyaeddin Efendi—and is the mother of HH Prince Cengiz Osmanoğlu. Another aunt of Şehrazat is Belkız Rufa Kemali Söylemezoğlu, the socialite. Moreover, Şehrazat's nephew is the former goalkeeper of Galatasaray football club Turgay Şeren and her niece is Hülya Koçyiğit who is a Turkish actress and is considered to be one of Turkish cinema's most famous female leads. Almost everybody in her family has graduated from Galatasaray High School, the most influential school in Turkey.[14]
The owner of thousands of Turkish hit works, Şehrazat's first hit song is "Yaz Yaz Yaz" that was sung by Turkish superstar Ajda Pekkan. This song was a reform in Turkish pop music. More recently, Bengü's "Kocaman Öpüyorum" and "Sırada Sen Varsın" are also hits written by Şehrazat. Demet Sağıroğlu's debut "Kınalı Bebek" in 1994, was another very popular song by Şehrazat. Additionally, even though she has a very rare and wondrous voice like her mother does, she is commonly known for her music productions and compositions rather than active performances. Hence, in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, she was known for singing arrangements, most notably, "Aşk Bir Kumarsa" (ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" cover), "İki Gölge" (Sandy Posey's "All Hung up in Your Green Eyes" cover), "İmkânsız Aşk" (Dusty Springfield's "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" cover), and Kelebek (Engelbert Humperdinck's "Free as the Wind (Theme from Papillon)" cover).[15] During the period 1975–87, due to her polyglotism and eclectic, wide-ranging repertoire of contemporary and narrative songs in English, Şehrazat, as a soloist, managed to perform periodically in Playboy and Gala, which were VIP locations featuring Turkey's leading performance artists. With a wealth of great songs and stage presence, her intense show was really appreciated by the audience and the media, however, she decided to quit performing but to keep on songwriting. Her voice is likely to be classified as contralto with a strong lower register since she possesses a significant vocal agility and endurance. That is why Şehrazat is able to sing the high soprano notes and the low baritone notes as well.
Şehrazat was also the producer of superstar Ajda Pekkan, Sibel Tüzün, the former Eurovision Song Contest participant, Yıldız Kaplan, Reyhan Karaca, Zeliha Sunal, and Band AF.[16] [17] [18] [19] Sezen Aksu, another Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who sold over 40 million albums worldwide, is the closest colleague of Şehrazat.
On 2 February 1985, Şehrazat as a special guest star performed in the music feast of a monthly TV-show "Do-Re-Mi", called "Jazz and Dance Night", with the song "Break Me". At the night, there was also a Coşkun Demir-Şehrazat duet "Baby Come to Me". She concurrently appeared in Cem Özer's Star TV show "Laf Lafı Açıyor" on 19 June 1992 and on 3 May 1996 when the show transferred to Kanal D.
On 24 January 2004, Şehrazat celebrated her 30-year anniversary as a lyricist and composer, which took place in the form of a huge concert named "Şehrazat Şarkıları" and given in Istanbul at the Levent İş Sanat Cultural Center in association with Türkiye İş Bankası. She sang some of her greatest hits and had guests such as Sezen Aksu, Nilüfer, Ajda Pekkan, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Emel Müftüoğlu, and Muazzez Abacı join her on stage.[20] [21] At the instance of Şehrazat, all proceeds from this concert as well as profits from the sales of each ticket sold for the event was donated to the TSK Elele Foundation of the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey.[22] Apart from this, "Şehrazat Şarkıları" was also aired by the ATV Television Network in 2005.[23] [24]
| Year | Artist | Album | Song | Co-written with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Ajda 90 | "Yaz Yaz Yaz" | ||
| "Yazık Olur" | ||||
| Sevgiliye... | "Sevgiliye" | |||
| 1990 | İşte Ben | "Yalan Olur" | ||
| "Var mı Sende O Yürek?" | ||||
| 1991 | Seni Seçtim | "Sevgide Seni Seçtim" | ||
| "Yalnızlığa Hüküm Giydim" | ||||
| "Ölüm Yok Ya Sonunda" | ||||
| "Oyun Etti Gözlerim" | Garo Mafyan (composer) | |||
| "İnanılır Gibi Değil" | Garo Mafyan (composer) | |||
| "Eline Gözüne Dizine Dursun" | Garo Mafyan (composer) | |||
| "Dönüyorum" | Garo Mafyan (composer) | |||
| "Kabus Gibi Gelme Üstüme" | ||||
| "Haydi Durma" | ||||
| "Bu Bahar" | Garo Mafyan (composer) | |||
| "Yalancı Dünya" | Anuş Bakış (lyricist along with Şehrazat) | |||
| Hesap Ver | "Hesap Ver" | |||
| Sorma – Benden Söylemesi | "Delip de Geçer" | |||
| Sevildiğini Bil | "Geri Almaya Geldim" 4:25 | Seda Akay (lyricist) | ||
| "Yok Deme" 5:06 | ||||
| 1992 | İşte Banko | "İşte Banko" | Uğur Dikmen (composer) | |
| "Yiğidim" | Uğur Dikmen (composer) | |||
| "İlle de Yâr" | ||||
| "Duman Oldum" | Nil Burak (composer) | |||
| Yine Yeni Yeniden | "Çarem Benim" | |||
| Faka Bastın | "Faka Bastın" | |||
| "İşine Gelirse" | Greg (composer) | |||
| "Sev de Nasıl Seversen Sev" | ||||
| "Yerin Dolmuyor" | Mustafa Sandal (composer) | |||
| Aşka Çeyrek Var | "Aşka Çeyrek Var" | |||
| Davacı Değilim | "Eline, Gözüne, Dizine Dursun" | Garo Mafyan (composer) | ||
| 1993 | Deli Kızın Türküsü | "Kalbim Ege'de Kaldı" | Sezen Aksu and Yelda Karataş (lyricists along with Şehrazat), Atilla Özdemiroğlu (composer) | |
| "Dert Faslı" | Sezen Aksu and Yelda Karataş (lyricists along with Şehrazat), Sezen Aksu (composer), Özkan Uğur (composer) | |||
| Sıramı Bekliyorum | "Pembe dizi" | Nikos Antipas (composer) | ||
| "Yüreğim ağlıyor" | ||||
| 1994 | Kınalı Bebek | "Kınalı bebek" 4:06 | Rony Uzay Heparı (composer) | |
| "Yağızım" 3:00 | Sezen Aksu (lyricist) | |||
| "Biçare" 3:20 | Rony Uzay Heparı (composer) | |||
| "Bu Saatten Sonra" 5:05 | ||||
| "Oyunbozan" 4:22 | ||||
| "Yadigâr" 5:30 | Demet Sağıroğlu (composer) | |||
| "Benden vazgeçme" 2:42 | ||||
| "Kınalı bebek (Pop mix)" 4:14 | Ozan Doğulu (remixer) | |||
| "Kınalı bebek (Undertech mix)" 4:42 | Sarp Özdemiroğlu (remixer) | |||
| "Kınalı bebek (Club mix)" 5:48 | Tansel Doğanay (remixer) | |||
| Alev Alev | "Aşk Denen İllet" | Mustafa Sandal (composer), Sarp Özdemiroğlu (composer) | ||
| Emelce | "Gözümün Feri" | Murat Yeter (composer), Bülent Sert (composer) | ||
| "Sevmek En Büyük Devlet" | ||||
| "Ah Bu Sevda" | Bülent Sert (composer) | |||
| 1995 | Nil Burak'95: Akdeniz Rüzgârı | "E, Neyse Ne" | Anonymous (composer) | |
| Cansuyum | "Cansuyum" | |||
| 1996 | Söze Ne Hacet | "Alimallah" | Aykut Gürel (composer) | |
| "Bekletme" | Aykut Gürel (composer) | |||
| 1997 | Haberci | "Yabani" | Adil Omar (composer), Amr Tantawy (composer) | |
| "Haberci" | ||||
| "Kanım Akmaz" | Manos Loïzos (composer) | |||
| Nilüfer'le | "Bırak Beni" | |||
| "Namussuz Akşamlar" | ||||
| "Hasret Çığlıkları" | ||||
| Kerim Tekin | Haykırsam Dünyaya | "Motor" | Fedon (lyricist along with Şehrazat), Hakan Demir (composer) | |
| "Vay O Zaman" | Ozan Doğulu (composer) | |||
| "Dilber" | Kerim Tekin (composer along with Şehrazat) | |||
| 1998 | Sımsıcak | "Yarın olmaz" 4:58 | Emre Irmak (composer along with Şehrazat) | |
| "Ukte" 4:13 | Emre Irmak (composer along with Şehrazat) | |||
| 1999 | Kör Aşık | "Gümbür Gümbür" | ||
| "Kim Ne Derse Desin" | ||||
| "Kurşuni" | Ercan Saatchi (composer) | |||
| Can Bu | Elli Yıllık Aşk | Bülent Yetiş | ||
| 2000 | Diva | "Mutlu Bütün Şarkılar (Quand s'arrêtent les violons)" | J.D. Bonny (composer), Roger Candiotti (composer) | |
| "Aşka İnanma (Dov'è l'amore)" | Paul Michael Barry (composer), Mark Taylor (composer) | |||
| Hoş Geldin | "Hoş Geldin" | |||
| "Akşama Görüşürüz" | Emre Irmak (composer) | |||
| 2001 | Sen Bir Çiçeksin Özel... | "Hoş Geldin (remix)" | ||
| Turuncu | "Bahçede" 5:00 | |||
| "Yağmurdan Sonra Gelen Toprağın Kokusu" 4:45 | ||||
| Ex Aşkım | "Kime Ne" | |||
| Büyük Aşkım | "Beni mi Buldun?" | |||
| "Çok Büyüksün" | ||||
| "Her şey Bir An" | ||||
| 2002 | Sade ve Sadece | "Sade ve Sadece (Elveda)" 4:15 | Emre Irmak (composer along with Şehrazat) | |
| "Teşekkür Ederim" 3:31 | Bülent Yetiş (composer) | |||
| "Abayı Yaktım" 4:39 | ||||
| "Ne Zaman" 4:10 | Taşkın Sabah (composer) | |||
| 2003 | Sen İste (single) | "Sen İste" | ||
| "Sen İste (remix)" | ||||
| "Sen İste (ballad)" | ||||
| 2004 | Uçacaksın | "Uçacaksın" 3:24 | ||
| "Ayrılmam" 4:40 | ||||
| "Git" 3:20 | ||||
| Yasemin Yağmurları | "Kardelen" | Oğuz Gökoğlu (lyricist and composer along with Şehrazat) | ||
| 2005 | Fıkır Fıkır 9+1 | "Fıkır Fıkır" | ||
| "Uçacaksın No. 2" | ||||
| "Ayrılmam No. 2" | ||||
| "Git No. 2" | ||||
| Işıl Işıl | "Sayende" | Anna Vissi (composer) | ||
| 2006 | Gülben Ergen | "Amor" | ||
| "Belki" | ||||
| 2007 | Aşk'ın Şarkıları | "Hesap Ver" | ||
| Yıkıldı Duvarlarım | "Yastık" 4:41 | |||
| Ömür Geçiyor | "Katmer Katmer" 5:00 | |||
| 2008 | Aynen Öyle | "Aynen Öyle" | ||
| "Flu Gibi" | ||||
| "Gerisi Hikâye" | ||||
| "Hiçbir Şey Eskisi Gibi Olamaz" | ||||
| "Flu Gibi (remix)" | ||||
| Uzay Heparı – Sonsuza | "Biçare" | Rony Uzay Heparı (composer) | ||
| Motive | "Motive" and "Motive (remix)" | Bülent Yetiş (lyricist along with Şehrazat), Bülent Yetiş (composer) | ||
| 2009 | İki Melek | "Kocaman Öpüyorum" | ||
| Benim Adım Aşk | "Kalbimin Kıyıları" | |||
| 2010 | Sırada Sen Varsın (maxi single) | "Sırada Sen Varsın" 3:51 | ||
| "Sırada Sen Varsın (club mix)" 5:13 | ||||
| "Sırada Sen Varsın (Volga Tamöz version)" 4:18 | Volga Tamöz (remixer) | |||
| "Yalansın" 4:16 | ||||
| "Yalansın (piano version)" 4:46 | ||||
| Başka | "Teslim Al" 4:07 | Bülent Yetiş (composer along with Şehrazat) | ||
| "Ezdirmem" 4:33 | ||||
| Yeniden | "Yeniden"[28] 3:36 | |||
| 2011 | Dört Dörtlük | "Kadar (pop version by Volga Tamöz)" 05:13 | Volga Tamöz (remixer) | |
| "Dört Dörtlük" 05:05 | ||||
| "Kadar (slow version by Volga Tamöz)" 03:56 | Volga Tamöz (remixer) | |||
| 2012 | Es | "Aşk Döşeği" 4:39 | ||
| Yaz (maxi single) | "Sevmek En Büyük Devlet" |