Browsing: ENGLISH

The music here comprises a set of standards and jazz originals by past masters. It is so beautiful, so intriguing and honest, that it merits a mind with much higher ability and experience to do this review justice. Nevertheless, I’ll scribble a few notes on what I’ve heard and how it made me feel, hoping in the end, it’ll be a fun read.

Born in Sarajevo, Miron Rafajlovic had to immigrate to Canada with her family during the civil war. After completing his jazz education, he joined Cirque du Soleil and traveled the world for 8 years and ultimately decided to continue his life in Spain. Miron Rafajlovic is a true troubadour (as the title of his first album indicates) and has shown the ability to add distillates from the cultures of every country he lives in to his music. In the midst of recording his second album, Mediterranean Soul and right before his concert in CSO Ada Ankara in December 10, we’ve got a chance to talk with him about life and music.

Have you ever lost a confidant? that You spent some time together during your youth? The one who is there for you, even telepathically, whenever you feel lonely? That you listen to his teachings on the way to being a good person? Have you had a platonic friend? Swedish piano virtuoso and composer Esbjörn Svensson corresponds exactly to these thoughts for me. Although we have never met, I have always considered Esbjörn my friend because of his music and his wise words in the his interviews I listened to. And I must confess that even after all these years, I have never experienced the precedent of these feelings in any music.

“Selin Kesat is a student of mine in The History of Jazz class at Kadir Has University. Each term I give a Jazz Concert Review assignment as a midterm and a final project. The main purpose of the project is to observe a concert from emotional, mental and physical perspectives as natural as possible in order to reflect personal perception in addition to physical and technical sides of music performance. Selin’s paper got the best grade on the last midterm assignment . Her paper fulfills most of the requirements that I presented in the class in order to write a good paper.” – Introduction by Güç Başar Gülle

Gökçen Sena Duman interviewed drummer David King, a member of the famous progressive jazz band The Bad Plus, which will be on the CSO Ada Ankara Main Hall stage on November 21. Answers to questions such as the band’s transition from trio to quartet, the change in TBP music after the participation of Ben Monder and Chris Speed, and the details of the Ankara concert is here.

Imagine there is a train line connecting from Istanbul to Berlin. Any time, any length. But uninterrupted. Imagine passing through non-existent realms through glass as it rushes by. Imagine that the images created in your mind of cities and places that are not reminiscent of cities give you a sense of familiarity. As the flow continues, you accumulate new moments and memories, mysterious and fluent codes that you have not experienced before flow in the back of your mind.

Yosef Gutman Levitt, a South African-born and Jerusalem-based musician, has released his first trio recording, Upside Down Mountain. Gutman’s claim in this album is to capture an open-hearted and instinctively melodic, sincere performance style. For this reason, he chooses his bass playing both traditionally and melodically but especially musical role.

When I look back at 2019 and remembering Between Two Worlds album, I remember listening to an album below my expectations when I check the credits…

23 years old bass phenom, Kinga Głyk, who is said to be the best Polish bass player of the new generation and a rising star of the music, will be on stage in CSO Ada Ankara on November 5th. Right before the concert, she had the courtesy to answer our questions. Her own words, unedited.

Morten Schantz is a Danish pianist and composer, born in 1980. He met the piano in the late 90s when he was a teenager. He toured five continents with his band JazzKamikaze, which he founded in 2005, and gained musical experiences. Passenger was recorded at Kole Studios in Copenhagen in May 2020, one of the most intense periods of the pandemic and isolation process, and released in September 16th 2022 via April Records. On the album, he is accompanied by his 15-year companions, double bassist Morten Ankarfeldt and drummer Janus Templeton.