19th Istanbul Jazz Festival to come with stellar program

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Marcus Miller

The Istanbul Jazz Festival’s 19th edition is set to kick off on July 4 with a stellar program. Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the festival will open on July 3 with an award ceremony.

The Istanbul Jazz Festival will be hosting over 300 local and international artists in 50 concerts until July 19, when it will be closing with a live performance from British singer Morrissey.

The festival’s first concert is July 4 at 9 p.m. at the Marmara Esma Sultan, to be performed by The Jamaican Legends, significant musicians from Jamaica on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence. The Jamaican Legends feature virtuoso guitarist Ernest Ranglin, who helped shape the sound of ska as it emerged in the 1950s and who remains a highlight of numerous European festivals throughout the year; The Wailers’ pianist Tyrone Downie; and Sly and Robbie, the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, who are estimated to have played on or produced 200,000 recordings. They will be accompanied by Jamaican-English reggae artist Bitty McLean.

One special occasion

On July 5 at 9 p.m. internationally acclaimed musician Marcus Miller will be on stage at the Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater for a very special project on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of İKSV. Bringing together esteemed Turkish musicians with world stars, this concert is the first of a series of premieres that the festival will introduce in coming years. In “The Istanbul Project,” Marcus Miller will be accompanied by one of Turkey’s leading clarinet players, Hüsnü Şenlendirici, master percussionists Burhan Öcal and Okay Temiz, prominent jazz trumpeter İmer Demirer and guitar virtuoso Bilal Karaman. Other members of the team are Louis Cato (drums), Alex Han (saxophone) and Federico Gonzalez Pena (keyboards).

On July 6 at 9 p.m., the courtyard of the Istanbul Archeological Museum will host the best selling jazz artist in Germany and one of the finest trumpeters of his generation, Till Brönner. Brönner won the prestigious Echo Award of Germany five times, along with his two Grammy nominations. Releasing his first album Generations of Jazz when he was just 22 years old, Till Brönner has released numerous albums and soundtracks, and has received many awards during a career spanning 20 years. Known for his musicianship as well as his voice and his impressive stage performances, Brönner became the top-selling jazz artist of all time in Germany with the album he released in 2004, which reached number 16 in the German pop music charts. Brönner has also played with numerous leading jazz musicians over the years such as Dave Brubeck, James Moody, Natalie Cole and Tony Bennett.

On July 7 a mini-festival will be presented within the festival, with the highly popular Tünel Feast, which is to feature numerous concerts, events and workshops held in different concert venues and open air stages in Beyoğlu’s famous Tünel area. Around 30 artists and bands will perform at 17 different venues during this six-hour night - an unlimited street feast.

For festival details visit http://caz.iksv.org/en. Festival tickets are available at www.biletix.com until the day before the concert. To buy tickets the day of the concert, visit Biletix booths.