04.10.2017
Text: Artemis Günebakanlı
On the second Saturday night of the festival, my musical compass traveled from one end of the program to the other. I first saw the trio of German mathematician, pianist and composer Benedikt Jahnel at Akbank Sanat, then went on to Volkswagen Arena to catch Bonobo.
Berlin based academic Benedikt Jahnel followed up his classical piano education with programs in Berlin University of the Arts and City College New York. New York is also the place where he formed his trio. Having had his name heard with three albums since 2008, Benedikt Jahnel Trio met their Istanbul audience for the first time at Akbank Sanat, following their latest album The Invariant.
The piano, double bass and drum trio mesmerized the audience with their harmonious and dynamic performance. All three albums were visited in the concert, where increasing applause left the musicians smiling with joy. It’s such a nice thing to see happy musicians playing their instruments with zest, channeling the audience’s energy and feeding them back with more.
After the soothing show of Benedikt Jahnel Trio, I went on to embrace a completely different state of mind at Volkswagen Arena. British musician and producer Simon Green, aka Bonobo, questions the concept of home on his latest album, Migration. Is home where we are born, or is it where we are every moment as incessantly mobile beings? Shaped with the emotional and spatial questions raised by the loss of a close relative, Migration has a special place in Bonobo’s discography. It’s not surprising that half of the whole set consisted of Migration songs. Kicking off with the title track, the show turned the excited audience into happy dancers with the energy of drums and brass section, the dreamy stage presence of singer Szjerdene and Bonobo’s sincerity.
Melancholy and joy, the need to stop and rest and the urge to get on the road go hand in hand in Bonobo’s music, who skillfully incorporates sounds and rhythms from different parts of the world. During the show which left its mark on the second Saturday night of the festival, emotions surfaced and melted together. The body danced while the mind meditated.