The date that music lovers have been waiting for all year is here. The 31st Istanbul Jazz Festival will be in the city with its program that opened with spectacular performances.
The 31st Istanbul Jazz Festival officially opened on the evening of July 3rd with a ceremony held in the garden of the Austrian Consulate Austrian Cultural Office. Austrian band Saint Privat transported the audience to the southern coast of France with their spectacular performance.
AWARD TO NİLÜFER VERDİ AND NİNO VARON
Presenting Lifetime Achievement Awards to the names of the laborers of the Turkish music world as it does every year, Istanbul Jazz Festival hosted Nilüfer Verdi, one of the first female jazz pianists of Turkey, and veteran composer and producer Nino Varon on its stage this year.
WHO IS NİLÜFER VERDİ?
The daughter of German painter Liselotte Auer Verdi and percussionist Nejat Verdi, Nilüfer Verdi started her education with private piano lessons at an early age and continued her education at Berklee College of Music and New York New School. The jazz pianist, who had the opportunity to work with countless musicians during her America years, changed the lives of many young musicians by teaching piano and orchestra as well as her stage life after returning to Turkey. Verdi, who recorded the albums “Mana”, “İzhar” and “Knidost”, released the single “Talk to Me” with Erdal Kızılçay and Duygu Soylu in 2022.
WHO IS NİNO VARON?
Nino Varon, who started playing guitar at the age of 13 and shared the stage with Cem Karaca for a long time as a teenager, started producing records in 1968. Varon, who produced albums for Turkish music masters such as Tanju Okan, Ajda Pekkan and Kayahan and is known as the man who discovered Nilüfer, is also the producer of Turkey’s first jazz album, Jazz Semai.
STARS OF THE 31ST ISTANBUL JAZZ FESTIVAL
The program of this year’s festival, which will continue until July 18, is once again full of star names. It will once again be a difficult year for jazz fans to choose. Undoubtedly the most announced names are Chris Isaak, the romantic prince of rock and roll, and Grammy award-winning musician Gregory Porter. Porter will be at Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater on July 8 and Isaak on July 12.
For tickets; passo.com.tr
JAZZ NOTES ALL OVER THE CITY
The festival program, which will feature more than 200 local and international musicians in nearly 40 concerts, will include names such as YolanDa Brown, who is tearing up the stages with her energy, Joshua Redman, the doyen of the jazz scene with his saxophone, and Arlo Parks, one of the modern minstrels. This year, the 31st Istanbul Jazz Festival will organize Jazz in the Parks concerts in Beylikdüzü Yaşam Vadisi, Beyoğlu Hasköy Park and Küçükçekmece Göl Kenarı Amfi, and will once again offer musical evenings in many parts of Istanbul with the Night Stroll with +1, A Jazz Evening in Pera and Jazz Ferry events.
For program details; caz.iksv.org
