The Nardis Jazz Club, situated in an old Genoese building in a side street close to the Galata Tower, is Istanbul’s oldest venue of its kind, having opened its doors in October 2002. Consisting of a stage, a ground floor seating area and a balcony, it has a maximum seating capacity of 120. Customers can have meals served at their tables. The club, which is named after a composition by Miles Davis, is owned by jazz musician Önder Focan and his wife Zuhal, the publisher and editor of Jazz magazine.
Saturday January 04
Dilek Sert Erdoğan Band
Dilek Sert Erdoğan, known as Turkey’s most powerful soul vocalist, has a voice that is described as ‘black satin’, her style being a mixture of jazz, soul, funk, blues and improvisation. Her first album, entitled ‘Moments’, appeared in 2013, and has proved very popular; all the songs on it were written by the lady herself. In addition to being a singer, Dilek Sert Erdoğan is also an actress, and has in the past worked in radio. On this occasion, her group will consist of Uraz Kıvaner (piano), Önder Focan (guitar), Misha Pashkov (double bass) and Simon Shiriaev (drums).
Friday January 10
Şenova Ülker Quartet
Trumpet-player Şenova Ülker (pictured above), trained in classical trumpet at the Ankara State Conservatoire and at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatoire (in Istanbul), later played in the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and taught his chosen instrument at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and Istanbul University State Conservatoires. While still a student, he took lessons in jazz theory from the jazz musician and musical arranger Emin Fındıkoğlu, one of Turkey’s most respected pedagogues. Since 2013, Şenova Ülker has been teaching jazz trumpet at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul. He participates in a large number of festivals both in Turkey and abroad, and his Vikipedi entry lists no less than 28 albums in which he has taken part. His group on this occasion consists of Önder Focan (guitar), Anıl Deniz (double bass) and Simon Shiriaev (drums).
Monday January 13
Nothing Personal feat. Tamer Temel
This concert will be a mixture of jazz standards old and new, and original compositions. (The Nardis website also mentions swing.) The group consists of Tamer Temel (clarinet, tenor saxophone), Berkay Ata (guitar), Kubilay Burhan (bass guitar) and Deniz Özsan (drums). Saxophonist Tamer Temel, a native of Istanbul, 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’ (see January 23).
Tuesday January 14
METU Jazz Night: Kaan Bıyıkoğlu, Cem Tuncer & Ozan Musluoğlu
Kaan Bıyıkoğlu’s musical career began in Ankara, where he studied the piano at the Middle East Technical University and the Başkent University Ankara State Conservatoire. In 2006 he moved to the Netherlands, where he received tuition in jazz piano, harmony, composition and orchestration at the Rotterdam conservatory. Having returned to Turkey in 2013, he currently teaches piano and harmony in the Jazz Department of the Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatoire.
Mehmet Cem Tuncer studied the guitar with Sarp Maden and Gökçen Taşkıran at Akademi Istanbul, where he also took lessons in music theory and ensemble playing. In 1998 he received a scholarship to Bilgi University, where he completed his undergraduate studies in the Composition Department. Later, in addition to playing in a large number of concerts both in Europe and in Istanbul, he taught jazz guitar and ensemble playing at Yıldız Technical University. In recent years, he has written the music for a large number of films.
Ozan Musluoğlu attended the Music Department of Bilgi University, where he studied the double bass. He then toured Turkey and other countries with ‘Athena’, a Turkish ska and punk rock group. In 2009 he formed his own ensemble, the ‘Ozan Musluoğlu Quartet’. Ozan’s first album, Coincidence, appeared in 2009, and this was followed by 40th Day (2011), My Best Friends are Pianists (2012) and My Best Friends are Vocalists (2015). His latest album, Nine, was released earlier this year.
Saturday January 18
İpek Dinç Band
Singer İpek Dinç, a graduate of the Istanbul University Faculty of Chemistry, first came to prominence when she won the Nardis Club’s competition for young jazz vocalists in 2009 and was subsequently invited to sing at the Nömme Jazz Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. Offering a repertoire of R&B as well as jazz standards, she is to be accompanied this evening by Anıl Şallıel (tenor saxophone), Koray Üsgülen (piano), Baran Say (double bass) and Erhan Seçkin (drums).
Thursday January 23
Flapper Swing
Flapper Swing is a group that keeps alive the musical atmosphere of the roaring 1920s – ‘the times when jazz was still fun’. It has five members: vocalist Nevin Hetmanek, tenor saxophonist Batu Şallıel, guitarists Erhan Erbelger and Tomas Hetmanek, and double-bassist, guitarist and pianist Volkan Topakoğlu. (I believe Tomas Hetmanek hails from the Czech Republic.) They appear on stage in 1920s costume, but the audience is at liberty to dress as they will. I have fond memories of the times when Flapper Swing played in the street – at the Tünel end of İstiklal Caddesi. I always admired their blend of musical professionalism and good humour.
Issue 67, December 2024
Beauty in the Wilderness
