Highlights of this year's Istanbul Jazz Festival announced

ISTANBUL

Katie Melua, recipient of 56 platinum album awards, is among several renowned artists the festival will be welcoming this year.

July is the time when Istanbul will be brightened up once again with the legendary names of jazz music. Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival will be held between July 1 and 14 and host many acts in different venues around Istanbul, from prominent jazz artists to stars of popular music. 

Some highlights from the festival program have been revealed. With her unique voice, the recipient of 56 platinum album awards Katie Melua, South African living legend Hugh Masekela and his band, the all-star group led by the percussion master Manu Katché and Richard Bona, the Chick Corea-Stanley Clarke duet, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana and Cécile McLorin Salvant are among the names the festival will be welcoming this year.

Tickets for the first highlights of the festival will be available March 15 through Biletix and the main ticket office of the İKSV. The 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival program can also be reached via İKSV Mobile Application, which is now available at the AppStore and Google Play Store for free.

Among the highlights of the festival include silky-voiced singer and songwriter Katie Melua, who graced the British top 10 with two albums when she was only 19, will be at the Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater on July 10. The 30-year-old artist has broken records as the best-selling female artist of 2006 in Britain and Europe.

Legendary names of Jazz

The festival brings together two of the legendary names of jazz in a special acoustic project. On July 8 at Haliç Congress Center, Stanley Clarke on bass and Chick Corea on piano will be acoustically playing their own compositions and collaborations from the 1970’s to today.

The guests of this year’s “A Strange Place for Jazz,” which will be held at the Courtyard of the Istanbul High School will include one of the best jazz pianists of our time Danilo Perez, double bass master John Patituci, and legendary drummer Brian Blade, who has worked with artists like Joni Mitchell and Marianne Faithful. The trio, who received two Grammy awards as part of the quartet formed by one of the biggest living geniuses of jazz, Wayne Shorter, will quench jazz lovers’ thirst on July 4, as they perform under their name the “Children of the Light” project. Before the trio, American bassist Derrick Hodge will take the stage.

Manu Katché, who enchants with his percussion, Richard Bona, one of the best bassists of jazz music today, Stefano di Battista, a prominent sax player from the European jazz scene, and talented pianist Eric Legnini will meet on the same stage at Santralistanbul Amphitheater. The concert will take place July 7.

Living legend Hugh Masekela returns to Istanbul with his band after he performed last year at Hagia Eirene Museum for “International Jazz Day” hosted by UNESCO. Two-time Grammy Award winner trumpet master Masekela will give a concert with his band on July 14 at the Ortaköy Feriye Restaurant.

Brad Mehldau, named as “the most creative jazz pianist since the 1960’s,” and drummer Mark Guiliana who worked with artists like Phronesis, Dhafer Youssef, Gretchen Parlato, are among the guests of this year’s festival with their “Mehliana” project, which they started in 2011.  The duo will take the stage at Haliç Congress Center on July 8 as part of their tour to support their album “Taming the Dragon,” which was released in February 2014 to rave acclaim from music lovers.

Compared to Billy Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, 25-year-old Cécile McLorin Salvant will meet the Istanbul audience on July 11 at Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum. Salvant’s 2013 album “WomanChild” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2013.