İstanbul Jazz Events - Announced So Far For The First Half of 2016

İstanbul is the jazziest city of Turkey. I tried to make a list of jazz events in İstanbul for the first half of 2016 that I am interested in. I know that some of my readers are thinking about a visit to İstanbul including some jazz concerts. For your information, for the second half we have İstanbul Jazz Festival on July and Akbank Jazz Festival on October. For now, this is what you have. You can see some edits to this as more concerts announced:

28.01 - Vijay Iyer Solo Piano - İKSV 

10.02 - Mehmet İkiz - İKSV

17.02 - Sky Dive Trio - Akbank Sanat 

11.03 - Bugge 'N' Friends - Babylon

15.03 - Cecile McLorin Salvant - İş Sanat 

24.03 - Mark Guiliana Quartet - İKSV

30.03 - Go Go Penguin - Babylon 

31.03 - Tonbruket - İKSV

16-17.04 - Dena De Rose Trio - Nardis 

21.04 - Stacey Kent - Zorlu Center

23.04 - İbrahim Maalouf - Volkswagen Arena

28.04 - Jack DeJohnette - İş Sanat 

13.05 - Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran - İş Sanat 

22.05 - Avishai Cohen - İş Sanat

Spark Of Life, Marcin Wasilewski Trio with Joakim Milder, 2014

My first review of 2016 belongs to one of the best albums of 2014. It is a pity for me to miss listening to it in 2014 and adding to my best list at that time. Fortunately, I could catch the opportunity in the first quarter of 2015 after getting the album during Jazzahead in Bremen. As the title reminds at first sight, the album is like a spark. Frankly, an ECM album from long time Polish band Marcin Wasilewski Trio is a sufficient definition for any experienced listeners to have an idea; but adding Swedish Joakim Milder to many numbers in the album -as a tenor saxophone performer as well as a composer in one of them- seems to have created a very important temptation for European Jazz followers to listen the result of this collaboration. For me, a top notch woodwind collaboration of Joakim Milder with Marcin Wasilewski Trio in Spark of Life, creates an opportunity for listeners to make a sightseeing over a very well designed and standing still medieval city with a transparent flying carpet. We look at the trio's performance from different perspectives thanks to this carpet without adding any observer bias.

We see four compositions from Marcin Wasilewski one of which - the title track - is performed twice in different versions. One number is composed by Joakim Milder. Sting's Message in a Bottle, Hey's Do rycerzy, do szlachty, do mieszczan, Herbie Hancock's Actual Proof and Komeda's Sleep Safe and Warm are covers which are performed in interesting arrangements. There is also a Slawomir Kurkiewicz’s arrangement for a composition by Grazyna Bacewicz.

Marcin Wasilewski waits for drum and bass to join him before passing from his solo part to the main theme in the introduction part of the first piece Austin. Then, a very familiar Wasilewski Trio style spreads to our ears and promises us an album deserving a dedicated listening session from beginning to end. This is a style which is aware that silence is as important as sounds. The low level crashes coming from Michał Miśkiewicz's drum set are just amazing. While the main theme is being carried out by the piano, the whole sound feels like spring promised by snows melting next to a river.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we can be listening to one of the most amazing entrances made for a jazz piece in Sudovian Dance. A very catchy melody is very successfully presented by a sublime piano tone and a very minimal, touchy rhythm section. Above all, there flies a very dignified and confident saxophone which creates a magic ambiance. The main theme seems to carry some reflections from Eastern Europe roots considering also the title and the rhythm. The first cool sentences of Joakim Milder is answered by a short piano response and then the saxophone starts to talk with a more lyrical wording. The first part is ended with some saxophone partitions which signals a change. This change is also dominated by Joakim Milder. A ballad-like performance of him proves once again that he added another important album to his guest-musician-discography. His very controlled and lyrical sound seems to be a very organic part of Marcin Wasilewski Trio and this very well defined sound is like the 4th dimension to trio's 3D world. 

We are at that very first time when an electrical -maybe divine maybe not- touch is about to initialize life on earth. First percussive particles of Spark of Life seems to symbolize some inorganic ancestors who waits for some woodwinds to hit in order to turn them into living beings. The title track is really strong and impressive not only with its touchy saxophone partitions but also with the trio's improvisational collaboration while responding to Joakim Milder. 

Do rycerzy, do szlachty, do mieszczan... The knights, nobles, burghers... A cover from famous Polish band Hey... As reflected in the title, we have some kind of caste system attached to individual parts of the music: I think the piano belongs to nobles with its imperious style, whereas the saxophone acts as a spokesman for the public - can we say burghers - with a very naive and grievous sound. Drum and bass creates a reliance for the listener and shows the way both for piano and saxophone - just as knights... 

Message in a Bottle is covered many times by jazz musicians. According to the documentary "Musical Brain", it is not coincidence that there are so many hits belonging to Sting. In this documentary, a software running on a database created by all popular hits found out that almost all Sting's pieces carry all the necessary components to be a hit. For sure, the main component is simplicity which makes a piece catchy for a massive number of audience. So we can say that Message in a Bottle is a simple piece, at least considering my above very scientific explanation, which can be unnecessary for an album review. Although it is easy to cover that piece and there are so many around, only some can be complex and delicate enough for the listeners who desire much more. Marcin Wasilewski Trio manages to play this hit in a very jazzy manner and turns it into a very different thing. Especially Marcin Wasilewski works hard to fill all the dots specified by Sting and he also adds a great solo part. The double bass solo of Sławomir Kurkiewicz needs a closer attention too.

Sleep Safe and Warm is another very well known piece especially in European Jazz albums made by Polish musicians. Being a legendary composition and a part of a famous soundtrack and movie, it deserves to be played over and over. Komeda has a very special meaning for Marcin Wasilewski Trio since it gave an inspiration and title to one of their first albums. This arrangement and cover is unique mostly thanks to Joakim Milder's beautiful performance.

We find the opportunity to listen to the trio in their basic format in the middle of the album with Three Reflections. The minimal brush rhythms and low frequency and level double bass accompaniment to soft piano touches create what we very well know as simple acoustic trio. This type of music may not even need a composition to impress the listener. It's like a river flowing on its bed from a high level source to a sea. By its own potential energy the sound turns into music. I really liked the tensional rise through the end of the performance, resembling to the rage of waters.

Joakim Milder's catchy composition Still has an obvious Scandinavian soul - melancholic but energetic too. Although it is initially and mainly driven by Joakim Milder's amazing tone, in my humble opinion, the piano dominated trio performance in the middle, needs a closer attention too. The last part where the quartet rises the tension in a very harmonious manner and Michał Miśkiewicz uses the whole dynamic range of his set, is another attractive performance of the piece.

Herbie Hancock's electrical masterpiece Actual Proof finds a very acoustical place in the album. Even it is surely played with pure acoustical instruments of the trio, the arrangement and the styles sounds to carry some electrified soul. The drum solo encouraged by the piano is impressive.

Largo -arranged by Slawomir Kurkiewicz’s for the composition of Grazyna Bacewicz- is like a calm and a little bit cold sea port through the end of the album with its dark ambiance parts. We listen to nice and hopeful bass solo in the beginning and the end is also another hopeful trio performance. Between them, the trio travels around classical music part of jazz. 

The trio version of Spark of Life says a very soft goodbye to the audience in the end of the album. 

The album was recorded in Lugano in March 2014 and produced by Manfred Eicher. Stefano Amerio, Morten Dalbaek and Gildas Bocle are names behind the desk in the studio. There is not much to say about recording or sound quality of an ECM album. It's one of the references that you can show people how detailed and sharp a jazz album can be recorded, mixed and mastered.

I am adding here a sample from the album - my favourite one:  

Marcin Wasilewski Trio seems to be still on tours for this album including Belgium and Netherlands. You can see the details from their website: http://marcinwasilewskitrio.com/tour/

Anat Fort - Life Creates Music, Music Creates Life

It is "a long story" what I first listened from Anat Fort. I really meant it in both perspectives. The name of the first album I get from the talented pianist and composer based in New York (born in Israel) was 'A Long Story', which is a release from ECM in 2007. On the other hand, what I started to feel within the first notes of this amazing album is a long story whose abstract will be given in this text.

I don't remember what I was doing before inserting the CD to the player or what happened next after the 56 minutes and 50 seconds have passed. All I remember was a huge present given to me. I again meant it in both perspectives. The music was like a gift. On the other hand, it was a great feeling of "just now" which captured my soul. This feeling was not an instant one. The contradiction between the naive texture and manifest-like main theme sounding like a Nordic tune pushed me to look at the name of the first piece. It was 'Just Now Var I'.  Later on I would learn that this pretty art-work was crafted just two days before the band is going into the studio. On seeing there are two more variations based on the same theme both in the middle and in the end, I got the main message: Just now, what life taught to the composer turned into music and this music will create life again. There is no regret for past and no anxiety for future. It's like Maxwell's equations of electromagnetic. Electricity produces magnetic field and magnetic field produces electricity. This inevitable conversion goes on forever with speed of light without thinking the past or future.

Paul Motian has played with Anat Fort in this first ECM album of hers. Easier said than done, we are talking about a matching not only with the highly reputable drummer of unforgettable trios of jazz history such as Bill Evans Trio and many other collaborations such as the one with Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett, but also with the heroic contemporary music producer Manfred Eicher. It is not difficult to guess that the recording sessions in 2004 and post-production process thereafter were all dreamy days for Anat Fort. Well, when I listened to the compositions such as 'Morning: Good', 'Lullaby' and solo piano performances such as the one in 'Just Now Var II', I thought: "She deserves the best of what's available." Considering that Anat Fort is accompanied by Ed Schuller on bass and Perry Robinson on clarinet, we may say that she rightfully got a dreamy line-up. 

The impressive melody in 'Just Now Var I', the bass solo in 'Morning: Good', the bass and clarinet introduction in 'Lullaby' meet us in the beginning. Avantgarde-like style duo performance of 'Chapter Two', which is a collaborative composition of Anat Fort and Perry Robinson is located after these three touching numbers of the album. As I just mentioned above, the piano solo performance in 'Just Now Var II' is a real shiny one. Not surprisingly, Paul Motian is a world class touch to all pieces he played. Especially his locomotive character in 'Rehaired' is among highlights of the album. We are learning from liner notes of the album that Paul Motian has not made any rehersal with the rest of the band. Besides the successful collaborative improvisational parts presented there, we see one more important fact in the number 'As Two / Something 'Bout Camels': Anat Fort is very good at composing within catchy melodies possibly thanks to her culturally rich Middle East roots. The energetic solo introduction made by Paul Motian in 'Not The Perfect Storm' is as impressive as what Ed Schuller and Anat Fort did to produce a really tensional aura resembling to a stormy weather in the middle of a sea. Yes, the storm is not perfect. Its power is unstable. 'Chapter One' is a calm piano solo in which Anat Fort's classical music education as well as her experience in improvisation & jazz can easily be seen. The end of the album comes with a third variation to 'Just Now', whose main theme is assigned to clarinet instead of the piano in first variation.  

The second ECM album 'And If' came in 2010 with a trio of different line up: Gary Wang double-bass and Roland Schneider drums. We are learning from the information in her webpage that this trio is her ten-years-old band which has taken stage many times on jazzland. As a memorial dedication and an indicator for Anat Fort's admiration to the musician, the entrance and the exit to the album are attained by two performances for the same tune carrying the Paul Motian's name: Paul Motian (1), Paul Motian (2). After an abstractive and calm performance based on nuances and tails of the sounds in 'Paul Motian (1)', 'Clouds Moving' presents an hopeful and energetic area for the listener. The overall sound in here - like it is so in the whole album - is very organic thanks to the long-established band. No musician is dominant compared to others and no specific instrument is pushing you to get attention. It is even hard to concentrate on any individual performance because of their irreducible organism. The rise and falls in the tension of the music are accomplished together in a very harmonious way. The beautiful and melancholic main theme in the piece 'En If' is something prepared by Anat Fort directly for listener's soul. Some recursive riffs on the piano signals the beginning of another catchy tune which is called 'Some'. Gary Wang (following an individual path from time to time) and Roland Schneider (creating interesting and minimal performances on the drum set) are proving here how nice matchings they are for Anat Fort. We hardly notice the transition to 'Something 'Bout Camels' which was performed together with 'As Two' as the 8th number before in the previous album. This is again a very successful performance started with an indecisive introduction followed by an impressive presentation of the main theme. Gary Wang's bass solo near the end and the repetition of the mystical aura of the introduction thereafter are all very touching. The next very short piece 'If' is a very unique one with Roland Schneider's energetic movements over the drum set inconsistent with the minimal piano and bass line. 'Lanesbora' is going on almost from where Anat Fort left the piano in the previous piece. This time the brush-dominant drum performance gives a calmer feeling. The melodic bass solo in the middle and rich rhythm texture created by drummer are highlights of the performance. 'Minnesota' is again another nice tune from Anat Fort in which she decided to give stage mostly to her friends. The snare-drum & hi-hat dominant rhythms and the dignified body supplied by the double bass are certainly at top quality. The angel is beautifully singing from the piano above all this good stuff. The impressive rests of the piano in the short piece 'Nu' once again supplies a vast area especially for Gary Wang to travel on his instrument freely. As mentioned before 'Paul Motian(2)' gives a calm ending to this well designed and performed album. While I am listening to that album in 2013, I sadly remembered that Paul Motian passed away a year later after this release in 2011. 

Now I'm looking for two more albums of Anat Fort. The first one is 'Peel' from 1999 which includes Anat Fort's compositions and some solo performances as well as some other trio and ensemble ones. The second one is an ECM album. I don't have any idea whether it is composed, designed or recorded but I believe ECM should release another album with Anat Fort. You know; music creates life and life creates music. It is obvious that this life goes on. Therefore this spiritual pianist will compose and play as long as she breathes.