Countdown starts for 36th Akbank Jazz Festival
ISTANBUL
Arturo Sandoval
The 36th Akbank Jazz Festival, organized by Akbank Sanat in collaboration with BKM, will bring leading names from the global jazz scene to Istanbul for a two-week celebration of music from Sept. 26 to Oct. 11.
The festival will feature 36 concerts with nearly 200 artists from more than 15 countries, alongside panels, workshops and masterclasses.
The festival’s diverse program will bring together different generations, genres and forms of jazz at venues across Istanbul. Among the internationally renowned artists on the lineup are Arturo Sandoval, James Carter, Bugge Wesseltoft, Emin Fındıkoğlu, İmer Demirer, Sibel Köse, Dhafer Youssef, Savina Yannatou, Cochemea and Nicole Zuraitis.
The program will also feature young jazz musicians, international performers, tribute projects, talks, a listening club and children’s workshops. The festival will explore jazz not only through live performances but also through its connections with memory, archives, visual culture and education.
Speaking at a press meeting announcing the festival program, Akbank General Manager Kaan Gür said the festival had adapted to changes in the music world while bringing jazz’s spirit of freedom, creative power and boundary-crossing influence to Istanbul.
Akbank Jazz Festival Project Adviser Ayşegül Turfan Mumcuoğlu said the festival would take place at 24 venues in Istanbul this year.
She also highlighted a special project honoring Mehmet Uluğ, who directed the festival from its establishment until 2013. Norwegian musician Bugge Wesseltoft will perform a project named after his 30-year-old debut album, “New Conception of Jazz,” accompanied by cellist Gülşah Erol.
Young musicians and new projects
The JAmZZ Masterclass program will bring together musicians playing different instruments while providing selected young artists with opportunities to perform at the festival.
Seven musicians selected following last year’s 35th Akbank Jazz Festival will come together for JAmZZ Sessions. The lineup includes saxophonist İdil Duru Koyuncu, trumpeter Kemal Mutluergil, guitarists Efe Selvi and Emre Başer Alp, bassist Muhammed Habib Haznedar and drummers Emin Poyraz Urhan and Abdullah Örs.
The festival will also feature Corda Quintet, bringing together Barış Alp Dönmez, Doruk Liman, Ulaş Özdemir and Öykü Damla Gözel, who won the Akbank Jazz Festival Award at the 21st Nardis Young Jazz Musician Competition, along with competition winner Selami Baysal.
Singer and harpist Ada Canata, who was accepted to Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship at age 17 and graduated in 2026, will perform an original repertoire combining vocals and harp.
James Hakan Dedeoğlu will return to the festival stage after a long break with TSU!, a project combining folk and ambient aesthetics with a cinematic approach. He will be joined by Mert Aslan Üçer and visual artist Aylin Güngör.
The festival’s annual Jazz Clubs Night series will once again highlight its close connection with Istanbul’s local music scene.
Barış Doğukan Yazıcı Quintet, joined by pianist Marko Churnchetz, will reinterpret Miles Davis’ timeless music through its “Miles Davis Centennial Celebration” project.
The centenary of Davis’ birth will also be marked through a series of talks and events. The talk “Miles: Anatomy of a Jazz Icon” will examine Davis’ life, legendary recordings and lesser-known aspects, bringing together Hakan Atala, Atilla Aygin and Eray Düzgünsoy under the moderation of Hakan Rauf Tüfekçi.
Other events include the “fugamundi x Can Sürmen Jazz Listening Club,” focusing on the human side of groove, and “Memory, Jazz and Visual Culture: A Journey Through Time at İMÇ,” presented by Müjde Yazıcı and Görkem Kızılkayak.
The talk “Jazz Elements in the Works of İlhan Mimaroğlu” will explore the composer’s multilayered relationship with jazz culture, while “Radio, Television and Jazz” will examine the role of broadcasters and orchestras in the development of jazz in Türkiye.
Bant Mag.’s popular event “These Songs Ruined Me” will also have a special festival edition, with Heja Bozyel and Mert Aslan Üçer sharing the stories behind songs that left a lasting mark on them.
The festival will also offer programs for children.