Istanbul Jazz Festival draws 25,000 people to concerts

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Alicia Keys visited Istanbul for jazz festival concert.

The 20th Istanbul Jazz Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored for the past 16 years by Garanti Bank, has concluded after drawing a total of 25,000 people to its concerts.

This year Istanbul Jazz took place between July 2 and 18. The 20th edition of the festival attracted 25,000 people, and brought the jazz stars and audiences together with 30 concerts in 14 different venues with the participation of over 300 local and international artists.

The Istanbul Jazz Festival hosted two prominent names of R&B and soul, Alicia Keys and John Legend in its 20th year. American Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and composer Alicia Keys performed on July 2 at ParkOrman. A total of 7,000 people attended the concert. One of the best singer-songwriters of R&B and soul of his generation, nine-time Grammy-winning singer John Legend was in Istanbul for the first time within the scope of the festival. This closing concert, held on July 29 at the Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Stage, was attended by 4,000 music lovers. The festival line-up also included Bob James & David Sanborn, E.S.T. Symphony (feat. Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström, Jacky Terrasson, Michael Wollny & Marius Neset), Melody Gardot, Dee Dee Bridgewater & Ramsey Lewis, Antony Strong, China Moses, Anat Cohen Quartet, Stefano Bollani & Hamilton de Holanda Duo, Chano Dominguez, Matthias Eick, Ola Onabule, Gregoire Maret and many more.

The 20th Istanbul Jazz Festival also included symphonic projects. Esbjörn Svensson was commemorated with a special project, titled E.S.T Symphony on the 5th anniversary of his passing. The project by the Swedish composer and conductor Hans Ek, was performed by Filarmonia Istanbul orchestra and soloists, Jacky Terrasson, Michael Wollny, Marius Neset, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström, on Wednesday 10 July. Sarp Maden, on guitar and Korhan Futacı on vocals are among the names to be featured in the E.S.T Symphony concert that provided a chance to listen to the symphonic arrangements of Esbjörn Svensson Trio’s compositions. The festival hosted another symphonic concert on Tuesday 16 July. Deutsche Philharmonie Merck led by Wolfgang Heinzel performed at Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hallwith its “Teatime at the Savoy” project together with Opera Swing Quartet and prominent Turkish pianist and composer Kerem Görsev and his trio.