Salon kicks off 2013 with rocking music shows

ISTANBUL

With a varied concert program Salon’s upcoming season boasts something for everyone.

Salon, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts’ (IKSV) music venue is prepared to host a myriad of new artists and musicians for its 2013 season. Musicians ranging in style from soulful jazz to edgy rock are scheduled for performances throughout the year.

With a varied concert program Salon’s upcoming season boasts something for everyone. Lubomyr Melnyk, who brings a different approach and style to piano concerto, will perform Jan. 23. Melnyk pioneered the concept of continuous music, which requires a totally new technique of piano playing, based on extremely rapid notes and note-series that create a tapestry of sound usually with the sustain pedal held down to generate overtones and sympathetic resonances. These overtones blend or clash according to the harmonic changes. This technique and a mastery of his complex note patterns and speeds makes Melnyk’s music difficult for the average pianist to imitate. Mercury Prize 2012 nominee Roller Trio is scheduled to perform Jan 24 as part of the Garanti Jazz Green event. One of the cult names of Istanbul’s alternative music scene, Nekropsi will bring their legendary music to Salon on Feb. 2 with what is sure to be an extraordinary performance. Nekropsi bandmates Cevdet Erek, Kerem Tüzün, Cem Ömeroğlu and Gökhan Goralı have recently reunited and their concert at Salon will be there first after a brief hiatus.

Mostly Other People Do the Killing, a jazz quartet based out of New York City, brings together trumpeter Peter Evans, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, bassist Moppa Elliott and drummer Kevin Shea for a Feb. 16 performance as part of Garanti Jazz Green. The group formed in 2003 and has since released three albums on Elliott’s Hot Cup label, including their eponymous debut, Shamokin!!! It was followed by the album, This Is Our Moosic. Their latter two albums featured cover art that parodied classic albums by Art Blakey and Ornette Coleman. Irabagon was the winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone competition and later released his first solo album on the Concord Records label. In 2009, Mostly Other People Do the Killing was voted the winner of the 57th Annual Downbeat Critics’ Poll in the Rising Star Ensemble category. Evans, Irabagon, and Elliott were also included in the poll in the respective categories of Rising Star Trumpet, Rising Star Alto Saxophone and Rising Star Composer.

Valgeir Sigurdsson, who worked with world famous musicians such as Feist, Múm, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, CocoRosie, Damon Albarn, The Magic Numbers, Hilary Hahn, and Hauschka as a producer will perform Feb 21.

Salon IKSV is also preparing to host two big stars in 2013, with Calexico and Jamie Lidell as newly-announced as guests for the New Year. Calexico is named after the border town of Calexico, California. Their style has been described as “desert noir.” The Arizona-based group is influenced by the traditional Latin sounds of mariachi, conjunto, cumbia, Tejano music and traditional southwestern United States country music, as well as 1950s and 1960s jazz and 1990s post-rock. The new Calexico album, Algiers, was released Sept. 11 on ANTI Records and CITY SLANG. Calexico will play at Salon İKSV on March 2 and 3.

Lidell’s performances

Jamie Lidell is also renowned for genre-exploration, creatively layering tracks made with his voice into a microphone and performing the percussion and melody as a sequenced, beatboxing one-man band. Over these augmented voices he sings soul-inspired songs, making for energetic live performances. Lidell often collaborates with Canadian musicians such as Gonzales, Feist and Mocky. He has also recently collaborated with British electronic duo Simian Mobile Disco for the song “Off the Map.” In 2006, he was part of a live performance collaboration with David Link and F. M. Einheit, which was released on CD as ‘Echohce’. Lidell will be performing in Istanbul on March 23.