The music began to turn into a true global collaboration.
I felt an intensity as soon as we arrived in Taksim Square. We had settled into a fabulous 7th floor flat with a spiral staircase leading to an overlook of Taksim square and İstiklal Caddesi. From our window in the heart of modern Turkey, we could see the buzz of commercial activity to our left and the tension of political action to our right. The frenetic bustle of shoppers and musicians on one side, balanced by the motionless pressure of paramilitary police standing in wait on the other.