Antonio Forcione Trio, Sketches of Africa Concert in 16th Ankara Jazz Festival, March 9th 2013

This review is about an incredible performance of a virtuoso. We went to listen to famous guitarist Antonio Forcione and his band on March 9^th to Bilkent Concert Hall for the last concert of 16^th Ankara Jazz Festival, in which Forcione played his latest album Sketches of Africa with Anselmo Netto on percussion and Matheus Nova on acoustic bass. I listened to this album’s concert last year in Edinburgh in Fringe Festival with a different band. It was certainly a great performance. I could also find the time to listen to the album several times. As mentioned by Antonio Forcione during the concert, he has decided to record such an album after staying in Africa for a while whose musical texture impressed him. I am sure that his percussive style has a profound contribution on this impression.

The concert has started with a very famous solo performance of Antonio Forcione, Heartbeat. This was indeed the perfect entrance. I think the master said to us “The instrument in my hand is my beloved friend and I know every detail about it.” I suppose, this performance, during which Forcione used the guitar like a percussion instrument, impressed the audience deeply. On Antonio Forcione’s musician friends coming to the stage, we listened to the emotional and tranquil composition from the album called Tar. Following this, Stay Forever again from the album is performed successfully. The next piece is introduced by Antonio Forcione as follows: “I can’t think of making an album about Africa without him: Nelson Mandela. He jives when he is happy. This song is dedicated to him: Madiba’s Jive“. Madiba is the name of the Xhosa tribe that Mandela belongs to. I really liked the percussion performance in this performance. Anselmo Netto is a kind of percussionist that can play different things with foot and knees together. After entertaining and joyful Madiba’s Jive we have listened to the piece written for people of Zimbabwe: Song for Zimbabwe. Then there came Alhambra which is written by Antonio Forcione for Alhambra Palace. It was a marvelous acoustic performance. In an instant he pulled the upper most string of the guitar far away from the others and created more modal and mystical sounds by tightening and loosening it. Through to the end of the concert Pata Pata which is made famous by Miriam Makeba, a piece composed for a village from North Africa and Africa from the album Sketches of Africa album are played consecutively. The last piece before the encore was the energetic Maurizio’s Party. In my opinion, Maurizio’s Party was an unforgettable performance for Ankara audience. Antonio Forcione, positioned the guitar horizontally on his lap and used it as a percussion instrument sometimes by hard sometimes by soft touches. More than that, he kept rhythm by sliding it on its strings back and forth. Then there started a duello between Anselmo Netto and Antonio Forcione. Anselmo Netto has given up this duello after he has seen that some typewriter like sound is coming from the guitar of Antonio Forcione. Forcione even played main theme of Strangers in the Night by showing a couple sitting on the front seats. This performance is applauded for a very long time.

For the encore, the virtuoso came to the stage alone and gave a perfect Touch Wood performance. Just before playing the piece, Antonio Forcione expressed his important ideas about Erkan Oğur and Turkish Music. We have learned that he could get the chance to play together with Erkan Oğur when he was at İstanbul for a concert and they have played together for three hours in a room. This is mentioned as one of the most important experiences in Antonio Forcione’s music life by himself. He also mentioned his admiration to the level of musicianship in Turkey which he has seen during the workshops. Forcione told us that he was pushing Turkish music for every guitar festival he knows all around the world. We were proud to hear such beautiful words from such a virtuoso about our musicians.

Bilkent Concert Hall is an acoustic hall with high ceilings designed mainly for orchestral performances which do not need amplification. I have very bad experiences before during some jazz concerts held in this hall in which the volume is too high and the reverb is wild. Frankly, I was frightened to go to this hall on March 9^th but what we hear destroyed my prejudgments. The volume level was perfectly set and it seems that the reverberant hall is considered and the microphone placements were successfully made according to this. 

Kerem Görsev Trio & Alan Broadbent & Ernie Watts, Therapy Concert in 16th Ankara Jazz Festival, March 7th 2013

There is a lot to say about Kerem Görsev Trio, Alan Broadbent and Ernie Watts concert held in March 7th in Ankara within 16^th Ankara Jazz Festival. I think I can describe this two and a half hour long event as a jazz feast. Kerem Görsev has recorded the album Therapy, which includes his own compositions and Kamil Özler’s arrangements, with this band and London Philharmonia Orchestra in Abbey Road Studios in 2010.The album, which I really liked, is reintroduced with concerts to the Turkish audience with concerts in İstanbul, İzmir and Ankara after three years. I am sure that jazz listeners have already known that Alan Broadbent and Ernie Watts are very important jazz musicians and they gave many artistic products to the jazz world especially when they are together with  Charlie Haden Quartet West. We see the great Turkish drummer Ferit Odman and successful double bass player Kağan Yıldız in Kerem Görsev Trio for many years. I am really impressed by the performance of these two young musicians in the album. I should remind you that Ferit Odman has two albums called Nommo and Autumn in New York in which he worked with many great jazz musicians from America. I should also mention that Orkestra Akademik Başkent accompanied to our jazz musicians for the concert.

I went to Meb Şura Hall this time on foot, different than my routine travel by car. Why did I give this much detail? Because, I remembered suddenly the name of the album while I was getting nervous by the noisy chaos during this walk: Therapy. I just said myself: “Relax, you’re gonna be OK in the concert”. I became OK indeed as soon as the first note is played. Ferit Odman is at the most left, Kağan Yıldız is just next to him, Kerem Görsev is right at the middle, Ernie Watts is forefront, slightly right and Alan Broadbent is at the back conducting his orchestra. 

The first performance of the concert was beautiful Diversion from Therapy, which gave also the name to one of the previous albums. We then listened to the Flashback, which is composed as a homage to Kerem Görsev’s Dalmatian dog, Bebop. The perfect solo performance and beautiful ghost notes of Ernie Watts accompanied by swing of Ferit Odman, were worth listening and watching. I found the Orkestra Akademik Başkent a bit inadequate in some parts, which may result from my album’s record experiences. The third piece is performed in quartet formation. I am not sure whether it is necessary to say but Ernie Watts’ phrasings were just perfect. I really liked the solo by Kerem Görsev, their energetic dialog with Ernie Watts and the linking made by Ferit Odman in this dialogue. After that, we listened to Simple Life from the album Therapy. The string partitions are very dominant in this piece. The hall turned from a jazz club to a classical music hall from time to time during night, as mentioned by Kerem Görsev. Kerem Görsev asked Alan Broadbent to play the piano after the Captivation performance from Therapy. Just after that, Kerem Görsev sit together with the audience to watch the performance which started with soft touches of Alan Broadbent, continued with a lesson from Ernie Watts on instrument control and finished by a solo by Kağan Yıldız. Alan Broadbent has played Star Eyes to us next. Ferit Odman managed very well the linking between Ernie Watts and Alan Broadbent. 

The concert has continued with two performances from the album: Therapy and Story Teller as a homage to Oğuz Durukan. I really liked the harmony between orchestra and the other musicians in this piece. Then, a piece from a new album that will soon be recorded is performed: Tribute to Bill Evans. The performance is started with accompaniment of the orchestra to the solo of Alan Broadbent and continued with Kerem Görsev. The instant that alan Broadbent gave a sign to the orchestra when leaving the piano for conducting and arrival of Kerem Görsev to the instrument by tiptoeing was a remarkable and joyful one. After this beautiful piece a homage to İlhan Mimaroğlu called Letter to Mimaroğlu is played. Ferit Odman’s solo initiated by Ernie Watts’ sign in the next performance was awesome. I think he is among the best jazz drummers in Turkey with this wonderful touches and instrument control. 

Through the end, we listened to a great Body and Soul solo from Alan Broadbent and two pieces from the album: Sunday and Meeting Point. The enthusiasm has risen with the scene that Kerem Görsev and Alan Broadbent were playing the piano together at the last piece before the encore. After a long applause, the musicians came to the stage for a great encore. The encore started with Alan Broadbent’s solo and continued as duo with Ernie Watts. Then it is linked to the solo performances of Ferit Odman and Kağan Yıldız by Kerem Görsev sitting right next to Alan Broadbent. It was obvious that these master musicians get impressed by our young musicians’ solos. The musicians are applauded for a long time by the audiences after the concert. As a summary, it was a memorial concert for International Ankara Jazz Festival. 

The sound was fairly good although I generally do not like Meb Şura Hall’s acoustic. I think the panels on the background of the stage have a profound contribution on that. The volume level was set suitable for the music style. However, I sometimes heard the cymbals from the corners of the ceiling with a half-second delay. Even considering that, I should remind that it was a successful acoustic result what is did on March 7^th Meb Şura Hall. (I think the most successful result I have heard so far in Meb Şura is achieved in Dhafer Youssef Quartet Concert held lately again in this jazz festival. What I understood from this experience is that even architecturally bad designed halls can sound at least “not bad” when the best work is done during audio check.)

Interview with Nguyên Lê After Saiyuki Concert in Ankara

I made an interview with famous guitarist Nguyên Lê after a great Saiyuki performance of him with Prabhu Edouard and Mieko Miyazaki in 16th Ankara Jazz Festival. I am grateful to the musicians and French Institute in Ankara for creating this opportunity for me.

F.E: You have played with many different artists from many different cultures and education for almost 30 years starting from Ultramarine. Which culture or musical idea affects you most all around the world?

N.L: Everything. I have of course a very important relation to Vietnamese Music because its my own roots. I had to rediscover and recreate it because I was born in Paris from Vietnamese parents. So my natural relation to Vietnam is very distant. In fact I am more French than Vietnamese. I was all grown up in France. But as an artist when I started to make my own project I wanted to focus on my own identity, which was of course Vietnamese first. There is a kind of vital, existential relation. It’s always here. Even if I don’t play Vietnamese Music, it is always inspired by Vietnam in the depths.

F.E: Is Saiyuki your most ethnic work? 

N.L: It’s the most “world music” for sure. Before I had projects with Vietnamese music with singer Huong Thanh. It has kind of slow down these last years. We used to work a lot but we work less now. Saiyuki is today my most ethnic work but I'm also working more & more in Vietnam with local musicians & singers.

F.E: In one of your interview I have heard from you that fusion should be inside of a musician to play it. Considering that this fusion feeling is inside you, what is the source of this feeling?

N.L: It comes from all the different experiences I have with so many musicians and also from the love I have for other cultures. There are lots of cross-over experiences in the world. From my point of view they are not all successful. Because I don’t hear love. They are generally collage, there is no dialog, there is no integration, there is no inspiration, they are just together. This is opposite to what I am trying to do. That’s why I am talking about internal fusion.

F.E: Do you mean that 2 plus 3 should not make 5? Should it make something totally different?

N.L: Yes. Because the "plus" concept is mathematic. But it is not about art. There is no creation.

F.E: You played in different configurations such as trios, quartets or ensembles such as ACT family band. Considering that the improvisation is one of the most important aspects of jazz, in which configuration do you feel yourself more comfortable and more powerful while improvising?

N.L: Not solo! I am not comfortable while playing solo (he laughs), because one thing I always love in music is the collective & social dimension of creation. Otherwise each time it's different. I love to play in that acoustic concept of Saiyuki and I like also to play very loud & electric like in "Songs of Freedom".

F.E: For example, in last US tour you played with Rudresh Mahanthappa in addition to your trio configuration here in Ankara. Rudresh has a very characteristic and strong sound with his saxophone. What was the difference? 

N.L: I love Rudresh and his playing. But to be frank, it was not the best combination. We as Saiyuki Trio, sometimes play low and sometimes play high at different times in the performance. However, he plays loud in most of the times. This is good in his own music but sometimes not with us.

F.E: You have a wide dynamic range in your sound in your performances. You have a deep groove.

N.L: Yes, that’s what we love.

F.E: That’s also what I love and why I’m here. Do you have an ultimate aim in music such as unifying the music of the world?

N.L: I think It would be a wrong idea. I prefer diversity. I prefer to have millions of different styles and different identities than only one. That’s the problem of the world. That’s not only a problem for music. Everything starts to feel the same as a result of globalization. Globalization should be done in a good way. For example this city Ankara, with its roads & buildings could be the same as Dubai or Singapore. We are doing globalization in a good way with this trio, with Mieko and Prabhu. They have their own traditions. We play together, but they stay the same. They are just getting better because of the dialog. 

F.E: Should music have an aim or should it be like a river on its path?

N.L: It depends on how you define aim. For sure there is a concept, which is symbolized by the title: everything about different sides of Asia.

F.E: When did the idea Saiyuki come into your mind?

N.L: I had the idea to unite a band with virtuosos from Asia since a long time but I was looking for the right musicians. I was working about Vietnamese Music with the singer Huong Thanh. She is great but as a pure traditional singer she has some limits. At some point I wanted to meet virtuosos like Mieko and Prabhu who can play everything. It is not only about talent, it is about education. So I met Prabhu in Portugal. We were both invited to Portugal for a conceptual concert. I met Mieko in Paris in 2007. There was a guy who was a fan of Japanese Jazz. He wanted to promote everything about Japanese Jazz. He asked me to meet Japanese Musicians and I told him that I want to meet traditional Japanese Musicians. When I met Prabhu, I asked him whether he wanted to play together. We recorded a demo in a musical meeting and then presented the record to the label.

F.E: You are one of the most important ACT musicians in my opinion. Where is your sound located in the wide spectrum of ACT? Is it world music or spread on the spectrum?

N.L: Don’t ask me (he laughs), you answer.

F.E: If there wouldn’t be any albums in which you have not worked with Scandinavians I might have excluded this side but you have many albums with them. Then I can say you are spread on the spectrum.

N.L: I have recorded for Caecilie Norby’s album lately with Lars Danielsson, Robert Mehmet İkiz and Leszek Mozdzer.

F.E: That should certainly be a great album. You have a great album called Purple which has successful sales figures. This album is dedicated to Jimi Hendrix. What is the link between you and Jimi Hendrix? 

N.L: Everybody thinks I was born with Hendrix in me. It is wrong. I met Hendrix’s music pretty late, when I was already a jazz musician. It was 1983 when I am invited to a tribute festival in France whose concept was Jimi Hendrix’s music. Then I started to work on music of Hendrix. This was the first period. We were so happy with playing this music. The beginning was only a gig. Then we decided to continue with the musicians.

F.E: Was it the first time that you were with rock?

N.L: First time to play rock songs. Before I played jazz, I have played improvisational progressive rock, very improvised, not "songs". 

F.E: What about the second period with Jimi Hendrix?

N.L: The second period started with the record in 2000. I met Terri Lyne Carrington and I did this record. Terri is very important. We started a quartet. That was a little bit different. 

F.E: How do you see the relationship between Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, considering the style of Miles Davis after 70's, especially with Bitches Brew?

N.L: Oh, Yes. Miles, he not only loves the music of Jimi Hendrix but also his symbol and the symbol was also the black music who had success on all white people. Miles was dreaming of such success. 

F.E: Do you mean, he was trying to attract people?

N.L: Yes he was trying to be a popular jazz musician. Of course there is the music. But it is not only about music.

F.E: What do you remember from your works İslam Blues and Bakida with Turkish musician Kudsi Ergüner? 

N.L: Very inspiring. I am a fan of him for long time even before knowing him. I love the Ney very much. I love also Turkish Clarinet player, Hüsnü Şenlendirici. He is a pop star in Turkey.

F.E: Yes, Hüsnü has played with Dhafer Youssef in last North Sea Jazz Festival as well as in İstanbul Jazz Festival. 

N.L: Yes, I know it. I was also there at North Sea, playing with Mendoza. 

F.E: What is the first thing that emerges in your mind when I tell you Turkish music? 

N.L: It’s Kudsi’s music, sure (he laughs)

F.E: Is there any other Turkish musicians that you have heard listened or worked together?

N.L: I know about a traditional musician playing with Kudsi, Derya Türkan, the kemenche player. He also recorded with Renaud Garcia Fons. There is also the darbouka player Burhan Öcal. And Okay Temiz, I think, the percussionist. I also know about Erkan Oğur at fretless guitar. I love Turkish music. I am a big fan. It is very inspiring for me. Turkey is a great symbol for what traditional music is and how traditional music can live today. It’s still very respected. You can learn it at school. Traditional musicians read solfege. That's the good part of western in musical education. 

F.E: You can find the west and east together in Turkey. 

N.L: Yes, you take the good side of everything and you still stay the same.

F.E: What is the story about Topkapı Piece in the album Songs of Freedom?

N.L: Each song is rearranged from an ethnic point of view. Sunshine of your love is rearranged from a North African point of view. Come Together from Beatles is rearranged from a Turkish point of view. I wanted to have just my own little space, just myself more relating to my arrangement than to the pop song . So I created those little intros before each song. I played Topkapi on a small detuned 12 string acoustic guitar, with the idea of playing a kind of saz.

F.E: Have you ever visited Topkapı Palace?

N.L: No. Just from pictures. (He laughs)

F.E: Thanks for the great performance today and creating this opportunity for me to make this interview.

N.L: Thanks.

The Saiyuki Concert of Nguyên Lê, Mieko Miyazaki and Prabhu Edouard in 16th Ankara Jazz Festival, February 19th 2013

I have experienced one of my two favorite concerts in this year’s jazz festival on February 19th: The Saiyuki Project from Nguyên Lê, Prabhu Edouard and Mieko Miyazaki. I have chosen the word “experience” intentionally because there were more than music on the stage and there were more than sound in the hall. The name Saiyuki comes from a book. It means “The Journey from East to West”. It may be confusing at first when I say that this journey is from Japan to India but the meaning is fully understood when the fact that India is accepted as west according to Japan. Therefore, it is meaningful that Japan koto player Mieko Miyazaki and Indian tabla player Prabhu Edouard came together for French born Vietnamese guitar player Nguyên Lê’s project. Nguyên Lê had the idea to set such a band for a long time; however it took time for him to find virtuosos. The compositions and arrangements in the album are inspired from many different musical sources of many different cultures.

I went to the concert hall very early and had a coffee with the band members before the concert. After that, I could get the chance to witness the sound-check. I have watched the incredible preparations made by these musicians to turn their performances into an unforgettable experience for almost two hours. Both koto and tabla are instruments that are played while sitting. There were already two raised platforms on the stage for these musicians. Especially the work done by Prabhu Edouard for good sound was almost obsessive. The musicians personally tested in order how the music is heard from the audience stalls. The resultant sound conditions were the best that can be reached with these equipments in this hall.

The concert, which is started just after these preparations were far more energetic than the album’s performances. The musicians were in their traditional clothes on the stage. The concert has started with a slow entrance made by Azur. Nguyên Lê was wonderful with his well-known guitar tone as always. I suppose the tabla should have been listened by the audience before. However I think koto was very new to them. I can describe it as a long version of kanun (the Turkish Instrument) whose frets are changed before each piece. It has a very mysterious sound carrying you suddenly to the far East. After that, we listened to Kokopanitsa, which is composed by Nguyên Lê with some additions to Bulgarian Kopanitsa. The piece is introduced by Nguyên Lê. It was a very difficult piece to follow considering the rhythmic structure. For the third piece Sangam, Nguyên Lê gave the introduction to Prabhu and he explained the piece in detail. During the performance of this piece there were interactive vocal performances with the audience. Prabhu Edouard is a famous tabla player. I am sure that the ones that have listened to this instrument before know that tabla talks within its rhythms.

Mieko Miyazaki has explained the story of the fourth piece Izanagi and Izanami which is about the union of two gods and creation of Japan. This performance were almost theatral thanks to Mieko’s mimics and tonations. I think Mieko has impressed many audience from Ankara with her vocal technique. We sometimes felt ourselves in a suspense movie. The sound in the hall were wonderfully wide in dynamic range. The descriptions made by vocals of Prabhu and Mieko were not performances that can always be seen in every musical event. Nguyên Lê set the tension in the music meanwhile successfully. This performance has been applauded for a long time by the audience. Then, we have listened the softer Ila and entertaining Sweet Ganesh from these wonderful musicians. The dialog between Prabhu’s vocal/tabla and the audience were impressive. The concert gathered very long applauses from the audience in Ankara and the encore is made by Haeju Arirang piece.

You can also read the interview I have made with Nguyên Lê after the concert: http://fatih-erkan.blogspot.com/2013/02/interview-with-nguyen-le-after-saiyuki.html

16th International Ankara Jazz Festival

16th Ankara Jazz Festival will host many successful guitar players in accordance with its theme of this year: The Dance of the Jazz with the Guitar. We will be able to listen to the guitar almost in every concert of the festival. This instrument will sometimes be at the center of the bands playing jazz , will sometimes accompany to the jazz vocalists. We will also feel ethnic winds and able to hear many popular tunes from guitars. The festival will even be colored by fretless guitar and oud in some concerts.

After the opening concert of Neşet Ruacan and Cazın Kartalları Orkestrası, which is held on January 11, the festivals' concerts will start on February 1st. On having a general look at the program, I can say that the first eleven concerts, which are between February 1st and February 17th, will be given mostly by musicians living in İstanbul and Ankara. The remaining 8 concerts consist of some mainstream(even very few in numbers) as well as some world and ethnic music. Let's have a closer look at each concert briefly:

We will listen to one of the best orchestras in Turkey, Türk Armoni Yıldızları accompanying to Melis Sökmen at vocal on February 1st. The concert will be performed at ODTÜ KKM (Middle East Technical University - Cultural and Conventional Center) I should add that the guitar player Hasan Murat Aran is a member of the orchestra.

On February 2nd, Jülide Özçelik will be listened by audience of the festival again at ODTÜ KKM. Jülide Özçelik is certainly one of the most popular jazz singers of Turkey in recent years. In my opinion, her Jazz Istanbul albums including many Turkish Music tunes have a considerable effect on that. Her performances in İstanbul are generally early sold out. As a rare situation, some pieces in some performances are sung with the audience all together. I've been observing that Ankara would like to see a Jülide Özçelik performance very much for a long time. For the performance, Jülide Özçelik will be accompanied by Cem Tuncer on guitar, Kağan Yıldız on bass, (they both were at the two albums), Ercüment Orkut on piano and Alpdoğan Türeci on drums.

One of the performances that I am looking forward to listening will be presented by Bora Çeliker Quartet on February 6th in Türk Amerikan Derneği. I should mention that one of the best drummers in Turkey Ferit Odman, pianist Burak Bedikyan and bassist Matt Hall will play with Bora Çeliker in this concert. Bora Çeliker has recently released his album Borabook including many genres such as jazz, blues and psychedelic, which is the main reason for my curiosity.

You may listen to Alp Bora Quartet, who are Alp Bora on guitar and vocal, Julia Pichler on violin, Lukas Lauermann on violoncello and Soner Tezcan on percussion at ODTÜ KKM A Hall on February 7 . They have been performing together and introducing Turkish tunes to the world for a long time. It's a good opportunity for you to listen to Alp Bora and his band which is located in Vienna.

When we reach February 8th we will be able to experience a Guitar Summit night at again ODTÜ KKM. There will be three concerts following each other. First we will listen to Şinasi Celayiroğlu and his band. Koray Ergünay will be on bass, Kuzey Yılmaz will be on drums, Gökhan Över will be on rhodes and Sinem Yılmaz İslamoğlu on vocal for this concert. Later on we will see Bilal Karaman and his trio with his new album Patika. Bilal Karaman has performed with Marcus Miller and Lars Danielsson at last İstanbul Jazz Festival and gain a good reputation around İstanbul Jazz Scene. He is among the musts of such a guitar specific festival. The end of the night will be with Akın Eldes, the unique sound of the guitar in Turkey. Thanks to his own albums of genres jazz , fusion and rock-jazz  he caught an authentic style. He is also performing with Telvin of fretless guitar master Erkan Oğur. Bassist Çağlayan Yıldız and drummer Cem Aksel will accompany Akın Eldes for the performance.

You can listen to Murat İşbilen Quintet on Februray 9th once again at ODTÜ KKM A Hall. The band is generally performing Turkish folk tunes as well as some ethnic and world music pieces. They also sometimes use Murat İşbilen's compositions. Guitarist Güray Demir, violonist Gülçin Keskin, bassist Hasan Aldemir and percussionist Serdar Güzeliş will play together with guitarist Guitarist Murat İşbilen on this evening.

Following Murat İşbilen Quintet concert in A Hall of ODTÜ KKM, the audience of Ankara Jazz Festival will listen to Önder Focan Band with Meltem Ege on February 9th. If we say that Önder Focan is one of the best jazz guitarist in Turkey, this description become a certainly inadequate one. He is one of the most important jazz people in Turkey, considering his albums with young talents, his international performances and the support of them to Turkish Jazz Scene with his wife Zuhal Focan.  Meltem Ege is the best jazz vocal of the capital Ankara. She has been performing after her graduation from Berklee and working as a teacher in Başkent University. She has lately  released her first album including some good compositions that they performed together with Önder Focan, Ferit Odman, Ozan Musluoğlu and Şenova Ülker last year. The feedbacks to the album is good enough in our country. As far as we have learned, there will be three sets. Firstly a trio configuration of Önder Focan, Ferit Odman and Ozan Musluoğlu will take place on the stage. Then, trombonist Bulut Gülen (whose name is heard in İstanbul nowadays) and one of the best trumpeter of Turkey, Şenova Ülker will join the band. They will perform some pieces of a good album of Öncer Focan, 36 mm Biometric. For the last set, the vocalist Meltem Ege will join the others to sing some pieces from her album Songbook. 

We will listen to Onur Aymergen Trio (Onur Aymergen-guitar, Akın Bağcıoğlu-drums and Orhan Deniz-bass) with one of the best fretless guitar players in Turkey Cenk Erdoğan on February 13th in Başkent Konser Salonu. We have listened to Onur Aymergen Trio before again in Ankara Jazz Festival. Their visual shows were remarkable as well as musical performances. We have heard that they have caught a good harmony together for this concert.

The audience will be able to listen to Bülent Ortaçgil at Meb Şura Salonu on February 15th. Valuable Turkish jazz musicians, Baki Duyarlar (p), Gürol Ağırbaş (b) and Cem Aksel (d) will accompany him.

One of my another favorite performance will be on February 17th at CerModern and will be played by Trio Mrio. 3 good musicians are playing in Trio Mrio: famous guitarist Sarp Maden, one of the most important music people of Turkey, guitarist and bassist Çağlayan Yıldız and technically perfect drummer Volkan Öktem.  The band is originally found in trio formation in 1997 with these names. Later on we saw Alp Ersönmez on the bass for a while. After Genco Arı is joined to the band on the piano, Trio Mrio has changed into Quartet Muartet. As you may understand from the names the festival performance will be given by the initial band.

We will start to see international names in the 16th Ankara Jazz Festival with February 18th. Firstly Italian Francesco Diodati and his quartet NEKO will be at Cer Modern. The guitarist Francesco Diodati has been affected by folk and modern rock as well as mainstream jazz. His first album is released in Auand label with the name Purple Bra. The musician has performed with many famous jazz musicians in well known festivals. I think, Enrico Rava and Avishai Cohen are the most famous ones. Francesco Diodati will be accompanied by Francesco Ponticelli on double bass, Francesco Bigoni on tenor saxophone and Ermano Baron on drums.

Cer Modern will host a very important guitar player, Nguyen Le on February 19th. He is among the best contemporary fusion guitarists of the world. Although he is born in Paris, originating from Vietnam, some of his works are affected from ethnic music. His performances are unique since he merges ethnic to rock and rock to jazz at the same time. Nguyen Le has accomplished many works together with many important musicians all around the world since his first appearance in 1983 with Afro-Caribbean band Ultramarine and being a part of French National Jazz Orchestra later on. Kudsi Ergüner is among these musicians. I should add that he has become the first ACT musician and recorded more than 10 albums from ACT after he has joined to Jazzpana- Ensemble in 1993. I was planning to listen to him last October in ACT Jubilee Night in İstanbul. However due to some problems in schedule Johan Norberg attended the concert instead of him. It was my destiny to listen to him in Ankara. They will perform Saiyuki (an ACT album) with the album band: Mieko Miyazaki koto and vocal, Prabhu Edouard is tabla, percussion and vocal.

The Turkish composer, singer and pianist Karsu Dönmez who lives in Holland will be with Ankara Jazz Festival Audience on February 20th at Cer Modern. Although she has been composing and performing for a long time her album Confession could just be released. She has performed in North Sea Jazz Festival as well as in İstanbul Jazz Festival. 

We will experience German Philipp van Endert Trio on February 21st again at Cer Modern. Phlip van Endert is a melodic and lyrical guitar player. Their last album Rosebud has been well criticized all around the world and also honored by guest appearance of jazz musician Nick Margitza. There is Elvis Presley's Can’t Help Falling in Love composition as well as You Must Believe in Spring of Bill Evans in the album. The band is:  Philipp van Endert on guitar,  Andre Nendza on acoustic bass and  Kurt Billker on drums.

Dhafer Youssef Quartet concert that wll be held on February 20th at Meb Şura Salonu will be one of the most important performance of the festival this year in my opinion. Dhaffer Youssef, who impressed the İstanbul audience deeply in last jazz festival with his vocal and oud, is among the most important ethnic musicians of the world considering his authentic touch to the instrument. Although he is born in Tunisia  he is living in Europe (by saying that he feel himself more relaxed in there). He was able to work with Renaud Garcia Fons in his first Vienna days. Later on, he could perform with Markus Stockhausen and Dieter Ilg. He has also performed with many Nordic musicians. Nils Peter Molvaer and Bugge Wesseltoft are just few of them. Dhafer Youssef will be accompanied by Khrisjan Randalu(piano) and Phil Donkin(double bass) and Chander Sardjoe(drums).

I don't think there is anyone in Turkey interested in classical guitar and have not heard about Ahmet Kanneci.  He is the one that accomplished the best works in this genre. Since he is from Ankara, we can usually listen to him here. However, when the case is that he will play jazz for us then this concert on February 23th at Meb Şura Salonu, suddenly become an interesting one. As far as we have learned, the performance will cover pieces from Bach to Livaneli and Shostakovic to Bollani and there will be some readings as well as poems with themes such as Life, Death and Freedom. I can't find anything to explain, because the performance does not look like anything I have seen before. Let's go and listen to our virtuoso. 

The first concert of the festival in March may be one of the most important ones and will be held on March 7th at Meb Şura Salonu. We will listen to Kerem Görsev's and his trio's (Ferit Odman on drums, Kağan Yıldız on double bass) Therapy album that is recorded in Abbey Road Studios in 2010 with companionship of London Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Alan Broadbent and famous saxophonist Ernie Watts. The Good news: Alan Broadbent and Ernie Watts will be with us. The album is certainly a very good international album. I feel very lucky to be able to listen to that in Ankara. We will listen to Başkent Üniversitesi Yaylı Çalgılar Orkestrası as the orchestra.

Another performance in March will be Antonio Forcione's in March 9th at Bilkent Concert Hall. Antonio Forcione is one of the best acoustic guitar players of the world in related genres. He is born in Italy but lives in London nowadays. We are talking about a musician that has released more than 20 albums in his name and worked with many different kind of musicians all around the world. You can hear flamenco, jazz, Africa or even India in Forcione's works. Whatever he plays, who you see at the stage is a charismatic virtuoso catching the audience by his energy transfer and control. I am sure that this interesting guitarist will affect you deeply. Let me remind you that he has also worked with Erkan Oğur. I have met Antonio Forcione in last Fringe Festival of Edinburgh after a great concert of his latest album Sketches of Africa.  It was a fantastic concert. He will most probably play this album with the band in the album for our festival.

The festival will end on March 14 by a closing party at Ankara Hayal Kahvesi. In addition to the above concerts the festival attendees will be able to see jam sessions in Samm's Bistro on February 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd.

Lastly, I would like to express some of my opinions about Ankara Jazz Festival. I think there is an organic relationship between festivals organised in the city, live performance halls in the city, number of good musicians living in the city, the style of the city, sponsors, number of qualified listeners and the idea of the government towards to the art and music. You can easily see that each of these components affects each other. For instance, there is a necessity of a dedicated jazz club in Ankara which should keep the temperature of the jazz audience high that can also invite international names. However, the owner candidates of such places are worried about whether the place will be full or any sponsorship can be found. At first sight, the problems seem to be solved by enough numbers of interested music listeners however many listeners are complaining about high ticket prices, poor festival programs, poor organizations and poor advertising. These problems are started to be overcame in İstanbul one by one. The development in İstanbul about sponsorship, musicians, clubs and festivals are remarkable. Considering also that the acoustic music is demanded more in last years in Turkey, I think Ankara should get what it deserves. Honestly, I should also say that there are counteraction against those improvements which are closing radios and television programs about jazz and similar genres by governmental foundations.

There are many good things about Ankara Jazz Festival this year: The concerts are announced early and the tickets are good-priced (almost cheap). I also liked the short notes about the musicians in the ticket sales webpage. The long term period of the festival is also useful for the city to live with jazz. I recommend you to have a look at the program and buy the tickets from My Bilet till they are sold out. Do not forget that the demand will mean a bigger sponsor and a bigger sponsor will mean a better program. The world will be a better place just by art and music. 

My articles will continue with each concert.

Lars Danielsson & Ulf Wakenius, Duo Extraordinaire, İstanbul Borusan Müzik Evi, January 12, 2013

This review will be a totally different one. This time I will add my general opinions about reviewing concerts. I will also try to explain why I am giving up reviewing concerts after this last one. But before that I really would like to give you some details about a fantastic concert held on January 12th.

I should confess that I was already a fan of these two great musicians. I have their ACT discographies as well as some previous records and listen to them frequently via these good records. (As most of you know Ulf Wakenius was a member of Oscar Peterson Quartet.) Although I am sure that you have heard about them in many ACT albums I should mention that they are fundamental figures in European jazz scene. Besides performing in main stream jazz concept, in last 10 years, they both really proved themselves in a unique sound of a mixture of folk, jazz, rock and classical especially in Nordic bands and projects. Having many individual albums on ACT label, they also have many records together especially in Ulf Wakenius' albums. Therefore, when I heard about Duo Extraordinaire including these two magicians, without any doubt I booked my flight from Ankara (capital of Turkey) to İstanbul on a snowy weather. I was really wondering what will happen when violoncello and double bass of Lars Danielsson meet with guitar of Ulf Wakenius.

To start with; it was heavily raining just before the concert in İstanbul and I can tell you that I arrived at the Borusan Müzik Evi on İstiklal in a real purified mood, clearly washed by hands of God after a long day started with an approximately one hour flight specific for the concert. I can easily say that the small performance hall of Borusan was completely full. One of the reason for this is that Lars Danielsson is a very well known figure in İstanbul in last two years and really loved with his familiar and lyrical sound. 

The concert was planned in three distinct parts by the musicians. First we have listened solo parts of Lars Danielsson and Ulf Wakenius respectively. The third and longest part was their duo configuration. Lars Danielsson's solo part included a Joni Mitchell cover as well as pieces from his first album Libera Me. The unique sound caught by Lars Danielsson by means of some effects connected to the double bass and his wonderful violoncello performance were remarks of his solo performance. His sound (like some sophisticated screams) was just like coming from heaven. As far as I have heard, he also used some loop effects to support the melody with his own rhythm.  

Ulf Wakenius has introduced to the scene by Lars Danielsson as a remarkable guitarist. He started his solo performance with Witchi-Tai-To of Jim Pepper, which we are used to listen from Jan Garberek. He defined the piece as meeting of Swedish Culture with Indian North American one. The arrangement was extremely live and perfect in my opinion. Every guitar player should closely analyse Ulf Wakenius' technique. You should really have to see his wonderful vocal parts and Texas Longhorns hat. He added some "Borusan" and "İstanbul" words into the singing. Then, he played Blues for Oscar Peterson but this time as a present to Önder Focan, a famous jazz guitarist in Turkey, who was also with us at the concert. We could also listened an Egberto Gismonti composition from Ulf Wakenius. He ended his solo part by a song called Indian (or Hindistan) blues in which he played his guitar by using a glass for pressing on the chords resembling an Indian instrument.

Their duo performance is started with Praying of Lars Danilesson of his wonderful album Pasodoble. This album is originally recorded with the perfect Polish pianist Lezsek Mozdzer and it is one of the best albums of ACT label. Considering the strong character of piano in the original composition, the arrangement with guitar should normally have some handicaps. However, Ulf Wakenius managed to survive with his instrument and performed the defined arrangement very well. The following Pasodoble and Liberetto gathered many applause and appreciation from the audience. The Nirvana cover Come As You Are, literally rocked the İstanbul audience and made the night a memorial one for them in my opinion. The tension in the performance were incredible and the bow performance of Lars Danielsson was unforgettable. A similar piece to the first performance of Lars Danielsson's solo is played again this time as a duo previous to the last piece Breakfast in Baghdad. Ulf Wakenius used a bottle to hit to the bows of the guitar near to the end of the performance as a kind of percussive effect. The encore performance was dedicated to Pat Metheny.

The night is ended with many album sales as far as I have seen. I have found the opportunity to meet Ulf Wakenius at last and have a small talk with him. He recognized my name by means of social network. I have heard that the airport lost his luggage in Frankfurt. This is interesting for me, whose wife lost her luggage in the same airport on the same day. We already met Lars Danielsson after some concerts in İstanbul. Since Ulf Wakenius does not know that I am also in contact with Lars Danilesson, he is surprised to learn that Lars Danielsson knows me. Then there came the most funny part from Ulf Wakenius. He first described me to Lars as "He is active" considering my social network activity. However when he learned that I am also known by Lars Danielsson he turned out and said "He is radio-active". Then I got my best autograph so far on his Vagabond CD: "To Fatih, the greatest jazz listener in Turkey". What can I tell you more. I wished them nice flights and return to crowded İstiklal of İstanbul, like nothing has happened. I returned back home by another flight with a fully satisfied and happy heart carrying lots of melodies. 

I really would like to listen to them soon together. I think this duo configuration of two amazing musicians has lot more to do. 

Dear my readers, I also have to tell you that I won't write any concert review anymore here in my blog. The reason is a bit complex but I can tell you that I am a bit tired to share my mind and heart with people. I feel like my concentration is not as it was before. Each time I go to a concert, automatically words start to appear in my mind as some review components. Before this blog thing, I was just listening to music during live performances. It was me and the musicians in the interaction. The sharing was only within this path. There were no need to share what I feel. I know somebody should write about music but for me what I feel is more important than any other thing. I am not totally sure yet but I have decided to give up for some time. Don't worry, I will go on reviewing some albums from time to time. But for concert, I just think that to give you something I started to lose something such as my concentration and passion. Thanks for all your ideas, comments and interests.