Istanbul Jazz festival honors Özdemir Erdoğan, Ergüven Başaran

Erdoğan praised the İKSV for encouraging musicians in his speech at the award ceremony held at the Austria Culture Office Garden of the Austrian Consulate in Istanbul on July 11. 

Başaran said he has been involved in İSKV events for the last nine years. 

Başaran’s six-person Swing UNLTD staged a concert after the event. This was followed by a second concert by the Uninvited Jazz Band, a multinational orchestra which started its career as a street band playing on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue. 

Erdoğan was scheduled to appear late on July 12 at the Uniq İstanbul Open Air Stage, performing songs from his latest album “Türkiye Jazz Tarihinde Işıksız Kalanlar” (Pieces from Turkish Jazz History That Remained in the Dark) and a number of his unforgettable compositions.

Erdoğan was born in Istanbul on June 18, 1940, into a family of musicians and was introduced to jazz when he was 20. 

He chose to sing since he thought his guitar playing technique was insufficient. 

In the late 1960s he tried his hand in Turkish pop music. His single released in 1969 sold over 1 million copies. However, he didn’t abandon jazz, concentrating his efforts on blending Turkish folk and traditional music with jazz. 

The year 1975 was the beginning of Erdoğan’s prolific songwriting period. He founded his own record label in 1984. 

Başaran’s music career began in 1961 when he started playing in various bands. As he improved in jazz, he also played for various Turkish pop stars, including Ajda Pekkan, Nil Burak and Nazan Şoray. He played for two decades with the Istanbul Hafif Müzik ve Caz Orkestrası (Istanbul Light Music and Jazz Orchestra) on the state television channel, until 2002. He is the founder of the Istanbul Saxophone Quartet.