Ankara Jazz Festival to warm up the capital

ANKARA

The 19th Ankara Jazz Festival will be held this year between Nov. 17 and Dec. 18. The opening concert of the festival will be performed by one of most acknowledged jazz pianists of Turkey, Kerem Görsev. 

This year, Görsev has an album project with his trio and well-known sax player Engin Recepoğulları. They will be on stage with improvisation master Yıldız İbrahimova and trombonist Aydın Kahya. 

Having recorded around 15 albums since 1995, Görsev has shared various pieces of acoustic jazz with his audience, from the compositions he made for his trio to his arrangements for a philharmonic orchestra. His recordings out of the country and Istanbul have helped jazz music reach a wide audience in Turkey. 

The second concert of the festival will be given by the Ece Göksu Trio on Nov. 27. One of the new generation’s shining jazz pianist and vocalist stars, Göksu and guitar legend Neşet Ruacan give one of the festival’s free open air concerts with their jazz standards album “Slow, Hot Wind,” recorded in March. 

On Nov. 29, the Kürşat Başar Orchestra will be on stage. Established in 2011, orchestra consists of Başar on saxophone, Burçin Büke on piano, Elcil Gürel on base and İzzet Hiçkalmaz on drums. They have performed in many concerts and international festivals as well as many famous venues in Turkey. The band’s repertoire consists of a wide range of music genre from jazz and Latin classics to unforgettable oldies of Turkish pop, with their own songs and covers of Turkish folk music.


The Manhattan Transfer, an American music group established in 1969 in New York by Tim Hauser, will take the stage on Dec. 3. Signed to Atlantic Records by the legendary head of the label, Ahmet Ertegün, the group released their self-titled debut in 1975. The group has been awarded a Grammy for best jazz performance for twice. The original members Pat Rosalia and Tim Hauser died in 2011 and 2014, respectively. Now the group does live performances and many songs for their albums. 

On Dec. 4, professional graphic designer, song writer, composer and jazz vocal Dolunay Obruk will take the stage. Since 2004 she has accompanied Neşet Ruacan, Emin Fındıkoğlu, İrem Demirer on the same stage at Samm’s Bistro.  Obruk’s first album “Lambaya Püf De” was recorded in 2010. Her second album named “Istanbul Kafası” was recorded last year.

Soul vocalist Dilek Sert Erdoğan will take the stage on Dec. 10 as part of the festival. Her debut album “Moments” has been a huge success and been placed among the top three of jazz charts. It is the first original soul album released in Turkey so far, making it unique in Turkish music history. 

On Dec. 11, Selçuk Basa will be on the stage with the “Amorf Project.” He has come together with Burçin Büke, creating the concept like “a pianist & a surgeon” three years ago. After the project’s creation, Emin İnal, Ferhat Hasanoğlu, Behsat Boran and Barış Bölükbaşı joined as well, completing the album “Amorf,” which is set to be released soon. The project includes pop jazz-funk tunes composed by Basa.

Durul Gence 4+1, consisting of Gence, Atilla Şentin, Murat Ulus, Bilgehan Erten and Egemen Özkasnaklı, will perform on Dec. 16. 

Michiel Borstlap and Sibel Köse will perform “Love Songs” on Dec. 17. The concert will be one to remember, as it will be a part of their recording for a live album. 

Dutch pianist Borstlap has made a mark on the international music scene and is widely considered as one of the finest pianists of Europe. Borstlap and Köse came together for the first time in 2006 while performing at the Bodrum Festival. The Ankara Jazz Festival will host the artists who will share their selection of “Love Songs” with the jazz enthusiasts.

The closing concert of the festival will be performed by the Su İdil Trio on Dec. 18. Su was a finalist in 2012 Akbank JAmZZ competition. She periodically performs with Janusz Szprot, Murat Ulus and Cem Aksel in Ankara and trains with Sibel Köse regularly.

The concert venues include the MEB Şura Hall, Samm’s Bistro and Bis. For further information, visit www.ankarajazzfest.com.