Akbank Jazz Festival

The longest running jazz festival in Istanbul celebrated its 15th year with sold-out concerts attended by a jazz-loving audience from October 5th to the 15th.
Organized by Pozitif, the 10 day festival featured a roster of unique and well-loved domestic and international acts, providing jazz fans with a packed schedule consisting of concerts, workshops and seminars.
Commencing on October 5th at Aya Ýrini with a performance by the Patricia Barber Quartet, hundreds of jazz aficionados were entranced by the combination of Aya Ýrini's hauntingly beautiful atmosphere and Barber's unforgettable vocal and piano techniques.
The Cemal Reþit Rey Concert Hall hosted some of the jazz world's most important pianists including the 70 year-old South African Abdullah Ýbrahim, the apple of the jazz world's eye Dave Holland, the creative composer Zooid's special project with Henry Threadgill, the Norweigian new wave jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen and the salsa world's spiciest young collective the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
This year the jazz festival added a special series showcasing jazz and electronic fusion accompanied by mesmerizing visual graphics at the Yeni Melek Performance Center. The Norwegian master trumpet player and producer Nils Petter Molvær was followed by the up-tempo musical stylings of fellow Norwegians DJ Paul Nyhus and studio magician Reidar Skaar's Mungolian Jet Set. Another evening Tosca, the Viennese music group founded by dj/producers Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber, took the stage for a three hour performance in support of their latest album J.A.C. Young jazz fans kept up with the ever-escalating tempo of Dorfmeister's set, dancing until the wee hours of the morning. Hundreds of fans enjoyed the energy-infused and rapturous vocals of the MCs, which filled the halls of the Yeni Melek Performance Center.
Many concerts in the jam-packed 15th Akbank Jazz Festival took place at Babylon including the Chicago Underground Quartet, Flanger, Ýlhan Erþahin's Ýstanbul Sessions, Tuna Ötenel Band, Rigmor Gustafsson & The Swedish Jazz Trio, Henry Grimes-Marilyn Crispell-Andrew Cyrille, Troublemakers Live and the award-winning young pet of British jazz music, Soweto Kinch.
This year in partnership with Istanbul's Italian Culture Center, produced a series entitled 'The Sound of Italian Jazz in Istanbul" which hosted one of Italy's most original groups, the Italian Instabile Orchestra, whom gave one of the most animated performances of the season at the Cemal Reþit Rey Concert Hall.
A special compilation CD was also released in honor of the Akbank Jazz Festival's 15th year. Highlighting one performer from each of the 15 festivals, the CD is a chronological journey featuring luminaries such as Cassandra Wilson, John Scofield,Dave Douglas, Ray Anderson and many other unforgettable names the listener will be happy to relive these memorable performances again and again.
Sharing the joy of jazz for a 15th time, the Akbank Jazz Festival will continue to serve as the pulse of jazz music in Istanbul.
Akbank Jazz Festival is taking proposals for 2006. www.pozitif.info

• article submitted by: Pozitif Productions