Dear Jazz Lovers
Various branches of art from music to plastic arts are being positively affected on the eve of the 21st Century while communication and transportation technologies are vastly shortening the distances between the continents and cultural exchanges among countries are picking up momentum. On the other hand it is becoming more difficult to define various trends in a clear cut manner as technical innovations and unaccustomed synthesis progressively erase or completely remove the previously established borders in the world of art.
Yet, as you know, music is a universal language: a language that no matter who the listener is enables the listener to understand through feelings. Jazz is also a beautiful presentation of this universal language.
We composed this year's festival from various examples of jazz, just like last year: We have brought together under the roof of Akbank 2nd International Jazz Festival the different sounds from the history of jazz like Cecil Taylor and Nat Adderley, prominent names of contemporary jazz such as David Murray, Cassandra Wilson and Butch Morris, masters like Don Cherry, Okay Temiz, and Rena Rama, who have united world music with jazz, and Classical Turkish Music performers like Suleyman Erguner, to talk the same language. Hoping to meet you next year...