By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Mutlu
West Chester will be the site of two very interesting concerts this weekend featuring Mutlu on Friday night and a special benefit concert on Saturday evening.
On November 14, Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will present a concert by Mutlu starting at 7:30 p.m.
A Philadelphia native, Mutlu combines his innate Philly-soul style with elements of folk, reggae and rock. This cohesive blend of music creates a rare and retro sound that is entirely timeless.
But Mutlu is more than just a Philly boy.
Mutlu (pronounced moot’-lu) is a first-generation American whose parents moved from Türkiye (Turkey) to the United States in the 1970s. He even shares his name with the company Mutlu which is Türkiye’s best-selling manufacturer of batteries for cars and light commercial vehicles.
“I lived in Turkey when I was in third grade,” said Mutlu, during a phone interview Thursday night from his home in the Logan Square section of Philadelphia.
“I used to go to Turkey every summer. Now, it’s been 20 years since I’ve been there. I just haven’t had the chance.”
Born Mutlu Onaral, he grew up steeped in Philadelphia’s deep R&B traditions, eagerly absorbing the fundamentals of old-school soul music and incorporating it into his own musical persona.
He discovered the strength of his voice in high school while singing in a Broadway revue. He liked being on stage but didn’t anticipate pursuing it as a career.
However, while earning a marketing degree from Drexel University, he spent innumerable hours practicing guitar, writing songs, and playing open mic nights.
Now roughly two decades into a career as a professional musician, he believes that his Turkish heritage informs his perspective as an artist.
According to Mutlu, “From a writing standpoint, having that multicultural background from a young age fuels your creativity in a different way. It makes you empathize with things differently than you would have.”
His local success led to a recording deal with Manhattan/EMI Records, which released his acclaimed 2008 debut album, “Livin’ It,” which was produced by the late, great T-Bone Wolk, and featuring guest appearances by Daryl Hall, Amos Lee, G. Love and Raheem DeVaughn.
Mutlu has already made substantial headway with his high-caliber soulful sound. He has collaborated and toured extensively as a support act with legendary duo Daryl Hall & John Oates.
He also holds the distinction of having made the most guest appearances on Daryl Hall’s acclaimed, award-winning TV show “Live From Daryl’s House.”
“I toured a lot with Hall & Oates from 2009-2015 as the opening act,” said Mutlu. “I was one of the first guests at Daryl’s House.”
Mutlu has toured as a support act and longtime collaborator with noted singer/songwriter Amos Lee, and has shared stages with Adele, John Hiatt, Leon Russell, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Todd Rundgren, Shuggie Otis and many more. He also was the support act on the North American leg of Joe Jackson’s acclaimed “Rain” tour.
Mutlu’s latest release is a seven-song collection called “Good Trouble.” Mutlu co-produced the record with songwriter/producer Darius Amendolia.
Additionally, “Good Trouble” was mixed and mastered by Grammy winning producer/engineer Phil Nicolo at Studio 4 Recording in Conshohocken.
“We released ‘Good Trouble,’ in 2019 and then it got stopped in its tracks because of the pandemic,” said Mutlu. “This was supposed to be the Good Trouble Spring 2020 tour, but it never got started.
“I started a podcast with Spike Eskin about a year ago. It’s called the ‘Carl Landry Record Club.’”
On its website, the ‘Carl Landry Music Club’ is described as, “Spike Eskin and Mutlu discover great music, discover your great music, and talk to great musicians.”
Mutlu has been staying busy.
“I’ve been writing and stockpiling new material,” said Mutlu. “I’m getting close to a point where I can conceptualize an album. I just wrote one song with my partner Delia Amendolia.”
Mutlu has a family vibe going with the Amendolia clan.
“I did my last three records – ‘Good Trouble,’ ‘Hypnotize, and ‘Caffeine to Whiskey’ – in Florida with Darius Amendolia,” said Mutlu. “We recorded them at his Sweetbriar Studio in Orlando.”
In Türkiye, the word, “Mutlu,” is an adjective that means happy, delighted, blissful, contented, rejoicing, blithe and elated. It pretty much describes the feelings that his music brings to listeners.
Video link for Mutlu – https://youtu.be/wHUqFROlIno..
The show at Uptown will start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $27.
Other upcoming shows at the venue are the Moanin’ Frogs on November 15 and Dueling Pianos on November 19.
On November 15, the West Chester Cooperative, the West Chester Green Team, and the Unitarian Congregation of West Chester are jointly sponsoring a special “Feed Our Neighbors” concert at Unitarian Congregation of West Chester (501 South High Street, West Chester, ucwc.org).
The concert will start at 7 p.m. with proceeds to benefit the West Chester Food Cupboard and Senior Center Food Pantry.
The show will feature the eclectic duo Two of a Kind, singer-songwriter Lisa Jeanette, Grammy® nominated folk artist Dan Schatz, and master lutist Mark Rimple.
Two of a Kind
Two of a Kind are interactive children’s music performers. David and Jenny Heitler-Klevans love bringing people together and building community through music. Their beautiful harmonies accompanied by David’s powerful, rhythmic guitar playing and Jenny’s multi-ethnic percussion instruments create magic on stage.
Lisa Jeannette was born and raised in Philadelphia. The youngest of nine, she took to timesharing her siblings’ guitars. Her high school orchestral instrument, the double bass, led her to Temple University, where she studied with Henry Scott, bassist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance.
Dan Schatz has been playing folk music since his childhood in Kensington, Maryland. Nurtured by the active folk music community in the Washington, DC area, he has performed concerts, festivals and workshops since the age of 12. Since then, Dan Schatz has become a GRAMMY nominated singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and interpreter of traditional and contemporary folk music.
Mark Rimple principally plays medieval and Renaissance lute, archlute, gittern, citole, psaltery, cittern, and viol. Before his early music career, he was an accomplished classical guitarist, specializing in new music. His compositions incorporate early instruments and techniques.
Admission is a suggested $20 donation — “more if you can, less if you can’t, and no one turned away.”
Attendees are also invited to bring unexpired non-perishable food items for the West Chester Food Cupboard.
