Istanbul Jazz Festival enters second week

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Anat Cohen

The 20th Istanbul Jazz Festival promises a special concert series in its second week. The festival will host a unique project presenting symphonic arrangements of Esbjörn Svensson Trio’s compositions on the occasion of its 20th year.

The second week of the festival starts with the “Quartette Humaine” concert by four legendary names of jazz – Bob James, David Sanborn, Steve Gadd and James Genus – tomorrow at the Haliç Congress Center. With 85 albums, as well as Grammies and awards to his credit, James will be on stage with Sanborn, one of the most inspiring saxophonists of all time. Among the best studio drummers of the world, Gadd and master bassist Genus will accompany them on stage.

The Istanbul Jazz Festival commemorates Esbjörn Svensson with a special project, titled E.S.T Symphony, featuring symphonic arrangements of Esbjörn Svensson Trio’s compositions on the fifth anniversary of his passing. The project by the Swedish composer and conductor Hans Ek will be performed by Filarmonia Istanbul orchestra and soloists, Jacky Terrasson, Michael Wollny, Marius Neset, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström, July 10 at the Haliç Congress Center. Sarp Maden on guitar and Korhan Futacı on vocals are among the names to be featured in the E.S.T Symphony concert.

Well-known English jazz band Kairos 4tet, which brings together classical roots of jazz music together with its avant-garde side will be on the stage July 12 at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum. Afterward one of the most important jazz pianists in France, multi-awarded Bojan Z will perform.

In the last concert of the week, extraordinary R&B and blues singer China Moses’ charismatic voice with blues and soul classics will ring out July 13 at the Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum. Clarinet and saxophone virtuoso Anat Cohen and her quartet will be opening the night.

The Istanbul Jazz Festival continues its European Jazz Club project this year. European Jazz Club, a concert series featuring prominent names of Turkish jazz scene and European jazz masters, brings together different cultures, creative ideas and talents under the same roof. European Jazz Club concerts, which started with Uraz Kıvaner Quintet featuring Marco Tamburini in the first week of the festival, reflect the festival excitement at Salon İKSV, located at the crossroads of the city’s hub of culture and arts.

The rest of the European Jazz Club concert series’ program includes Evrim Demirel Ensemble featuring David Kweksilber on July 10, Ozan Musluoğlu Trio featuring Ivo Neame on July 11 and Şenay Lambaoğlu featuring Médéric Collignon on July 12. Lloyd Chisholm Sextet featuring Luigi Grasso and Nicolas Dary takes the stage on July 15 and Ece Göksu ‘Masal’ featuring Gregoire Maret takes the stage on July 17.

The Istanbul Jazz Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV)and sponsored for the past 16 years by Garanti Bank, is held between July 2 and 18. The Istanbul Jazz Festival collaborates with the cultural offices of France, the Netherlands and Italy around the theme of cultural dialogue for the European Jazz Club and Strange Place for Jazz concerts.