Ece Göksu performs at Bova on February 28
At Beyoğlu’s Bova Jazz Club all performances start at 21:30 (doors open 21:00) @bova_sahne, +212 243 44 61
This club regularly hosts some of Turkey’s finest jazz musicians, being especially strong on modern and improvised jazz. However, the performance space on the first floor is small, to say the least, and advance booking is definitely advised (sitting on a crowded staircase isn’t particularly comfortable). I have found the staff to be friendly and helpful, even in the face of unreasonable requests.
The nearest metro station is Taksim, on the M2 line. From Taksim Square, enter İstiklal Caddesi. Once you have passed the French Consulate-General and Institut Français (the low building just past the entrance to this street, on the right), Mis Sokak will be the third side street on your right – the one after Zambak Sokak and Bekar Sokak. The Bova club is on the left-hand side of Mis Sokak, just before you get to the first crossroads.
Their programme for the coming month is usually released on Instagram. I have asked them to put it on their website as well, but so far no joy. (We live in hope.)
Tuesday April 1
Meriç Demirkol & Volkan Ergen
Saxophonist Meriç Demirkol is a highly experienced musician who is also a gifted improviser. In my blog on a concert featuring both him and trumpeter İmer Demirer last February, I said the following: ‘As the trumpet-saxophone dialogue progressed it was Meriç, rather than İmer, who let rip, and in doing so contributed a great deal towards the success of the evening in terms of musical satisfaction.’ Meriç will be accompanied on this occasion by percussionist Volkan Ergen.
Friday April 4
İmer Demirer Quartet
İmer Demirer is a trumpet-player of such outstanding creativity and originality that the remark made by singer Randy Esen while describing how she had chosen him to play on her latest album is entirely justified: “İmer …” she said, “Man, I mean, what can I say … he was the only choice.” In my blog on a previous concert at the Bova Jazz Club, I said that ‘İmer, whose playing is invariably tasteful, was nothing less than magnificent.’
Saturday April 5
Sibel Köse Quartet
The inimitable Sibel Köse (above), dubbed ‘the Queen of European Jazz’, is a vocalist of outstanding talent. Last time I saw Sibel perform, I said the following:
‘Over the three-and-a-bit years since I last had the privilege of hearing her, nothing of her energy has been lost: if anything, her singing is more powerful than ever. She hits the high notes with tremendous force and faultless intonation; she improvises creatively with nonsense words even more frequently than before, fashioning them into meaningful episodes within the song as a whole; and her emotional range remains unrivalled within my experience of jazz singers. All this is mixed in with both a searing sincerity and a wry sense of humour. How could anyone fail to enjoy and appreciate her artistry?’
Monday April 7
Ayşe Tütüncü Quartet
Pianist Ayşe Tütüncü, known for her skills as a composer, musical arranger and improviser, is the first Turkish person to have had an album of her music (‘Panayır’, 2006) produced by Blue Note Records.
Tuesday April 15
Tamer Temel 5
Saxophonist Tamer Temel is one of Turkey’s oldest-established jazz clarinettists and saxophonists. Serbest Düşüş (‘Free Fall’), his most recent album, appeared at the end of 2016. He performs with a number of Turkish musicians, as well as with ‘Flapper Swing’, a group that keeps alive the musical atmosphere of the roaring 1920s.
Thursday April 17
Çağrı Sertel & Berke Köymen ‘Duolimbo’
Pianist and composer Çağrı Sertel, who learnt his art from Tuna Ötenel and Ali Perret, two of Turkey’s most distinguished jazz pianists and pedagogues, is definitely a voice worth hearing. After a concert by him and his group at the İKSV building in Şişhane, I wrote the following: ‘Listening to Çağrı Sertel for the first time gave me, primarily, a feeling of relief – that Turkey is still capable of producing musicians of this calibre. … His most outstanding feature – apart from the technical aspects of his pianism and his inventiveness as a composer, both of which are outstanding – is his impeccable taste.’ On this occasion he is to be accompanied by drummer Berke Köymen.
Thursday April 24
Jazz
Ali Perret ‘Komos’
In my blog on a concert in May, I wrote the following on the subject of pianist, composer and educator Ali Perret: ‘Ali Perret … was responsible for training up a large number of the fine young Turkish jazz pianists we hear today while he was teaching in the Jazz Department of Bilgi University – a department that he helped found. An expert both at laying down mainstream jazz and at providing musically appropriate accompaniment to free improvisations, he has a versatile aesthetic that is all his own.’
Mr Perret, a highly original voice in Turkish jazz, is always well worth hearing.
Monday April 28
Jazz
Jam Session with Tamer Temel
Saxophonist Tamer Temel is one of Turkey’s oldest-established jazz clarinettists and saxophonists. Serbest Düşüş (‘Free Fall’), his most recent album, appeared at the end of 2016. He performs with a number of Turkish musicians, as well as with ‘Flapper Swing’, a group that keeps alive the musical atmosphere of the roaring 1920s.
Ece Göksu performs at Bova on February 28
Issue 67, December 2024
Beauty in the Wilderness
