30th Akbank Jazz Festival

30th Akbank Jazz Festival

Festival History

Akbank Jazz Festival, the most perennial jazz festival in Turkey, was launched in 1991 with concerts organized in Istanbul. Not only hosting the prominent jazz figures across the world but also paving the way for emerging and promising next-gen artists, the Festival has now made it into a versatile organization by adopting panels, workshops, film screening sessions, concerts and social responsibility projects.

In time, Akbank Jazz Festival has expanded its musical scope by including various electronic and world music projects, along with classical and modern jazz works. In doing so, it reached an indispensable position as an event not only vis-à-vis jazz-enthusiasts, also for enthusiasts of other genres. The Festival was held in a wide range of venues including Akbank Sanat, Aya Irini Museum, Babylon, Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, Caddebostan Cultural Center, Zorlu Center PSM, Volkswagen Arena, Nardis, Bova, Summart, Soho House, Zuhal Müzik, Tamirane where it featured numerous major jazz artists as well as artists from other genres and generations including Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Roberto Fonseca, Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, Nils Peter Molvear, Anouar Brahem Trio, Abdullah Ibrahim, Aydın Esen, Betty Carter Trio, Dave Holland, John Zorn, Cassandra Wilson, Joachim Kühn, Joe Zawinul, Anthony Braxton, McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano, Egberto Gismonti Trio, Courtney Pine, Pharoah Sanders, Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Arto Lindsay, Richard Bona, Max Roach, Nguyen Le, Dino Saluzzi, Jimmy Smith, Ayşe Tütüncü, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Trio 3, Aki Takase, Sam Rivers, Don Cherry, Richard Galliano, Biréli Lagrène, Stephan Micus, Steve Turre, Charles Lloyd New Quartet, Avishai Cohen "Seven Seas", Arild Andersen Trio, Maffy Falay Sextet, Dusko Goykovich Quartet, Paul Motian, The Ray Gelato Giants, Azam Ali & Niyaz, Robert Glasper Experiment, Vijay Iyer Trio, ZAZ, Christian McBride Trio, Jamie Cullum, Kenny Barron & Dave Holland, Leszek Możdżer, China Moses, Ambrose Akinmusire, Chet Faker, Bonobo, Enrico Rava, Nicholas Payton, Amir ElSaffar and Two Rivers, Saul Williams, Tony Allen, Christian Scott, Mark Guiliana, Chucho Valdés & Gonzalo Rubalcaba , Shabaka & The Ancestors, Ala.Ni, Howe Gelb Piano Trio, The Bad Plus, Till Brönner, Aydın Esen Group & Can Kozlu, Omer Avital Qantar, Shinya Fukumori Trio, The Comet Is Coming, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Bugge Wesseltoft & Erkan Oğur & Friends, Charles Llyod Sky Trio feat. Gerald Clayton & Marvin Sewell, The James Carter Organ Trio, Sarah Mccoy, Mats Eilertsen Trio, Jakob Bro Trio feat. Jowy Baron & Thomas Morgan, Vaudou Game, Alfa Mist, KOKOROKO.

Every year, Akbank Jazz Festival presents many different novelties in its program to its participants under themes such as Respect for Masters, Jazz from Europe, British Decal in Jazz, Special for the Festival, Jazz and Beyond, Jazz in the Room, Jazz Time, Jazz on Campus, Jazz in High Schools and Workshops. "Jazz in High Schools" workshops that have been in the festival program since 2011aimed to introduce and popularize jazz music by reaching high school youth and brought together high school students and jazz musicians.

Presented with assorted changes each year, Akbank Jazz Festival reached various cities of Turkey other than Istanbul, with the launch of Jazz on Campus concerts held since 2006. This series of concerts was organized in various cities including Ankara, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, İzmir, Trabzon, Adana, Erzurum, Kayseri, Kars and many more.

In 2010, Akbank Jazz Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary which was honored by a compilation album, an epitome of its history, and a retrospective documentary and book. In 2011, the 20th edition of Akbank Jazz Festival was awarded the category prize of "Corporate Social Responsibility – Culture and Art" as part of the Golden Compass Awards organized by Turkey Public Relations Association (TÜHİD). Having celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2015, the festival compiled a rich collection of contemporary Turkish jazz scene, consisting of 2 CD's. Featuring a limited number of vinyl records released to cherish the quarter-century past, the festival also presented a short selection of the 60's and 70's Turkish jazz panorama in this album.

In 2020, Akbank Jazz Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special project worthy of its mission. During the pandemic period where all the dynamics changed, concerts could not be held and events were postponed, it did not slow down and carried out an archival project by making a recording that reflects the present situation of Turkish Jazz. Akbank Jazz Festival, which started a retrospective work that took a x-ray of 30 years with its special recordings, interviews and documentary shootings, thus supported creativity despite all the constraints of the pandemic period and aimed to leave an effective, meaningful and permanent work to the Turkish jazz world.

With special recordings for the 30th anniversary of Akbank Jazz Festival; the project which includes 30 original compositions and the performance of nearly 80 artists, was of great value not only as an album, but also in terms of reflecting the spirit of the past 30 years and our time, with its documentary dimension consisting of the recording process and artist interviews.

In addition to that, in 2020, Akbank Jazz Festival organized five “Year Long Concerts”for celebrating its 30th anniversary and sixteen “Jazz State of Home Concerts” where home concerts have been broadcasted live through Instagram during pandemic period.

Akbank Jazz Festival also realized various roaring projects across digital media by gatewaying a whole new dimension for communication with followers through social media. The Festival was granted various awards within the scope of Stevie Awards and Creativity International Awards for its social media projects entitled Akbank Jazz Festival T-shirt Design Competitionç.

Akbank Jazz Radio. Akbank Jazz Festival is a member of European Jazz Network.

30th Akbank Jazz Festival

30th Akbank Jazz Festival

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25 SEP MON
1

21:00

Concert Al Di Meola

AKM Theatre Hall

26 SEP TUE
2

19:00

Concert Kâmil Özler Trio & Yasemin Özler

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Concert Sub-Rehavi

Yeldeğirmeni Arts Center

27 SEP WED
4

19:00

Concert Yumi Ito

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Concert Neşet Ruacan, Cem Tuncer, Yarkın Tuncer

Yeldeğirmeni Arts Center

20:30

Concert Mert Pekduraner

Çevre Tiyatrosu / Semaver Kumpanya

22:00

Concert KAM x Yasemin Mori

Bova

28 SEP THU
1

21:00

Concert All Night Jazz: BOSQ, Zeynep Erbay, Recep Şencan

Frankhan

29 SEP FRI
2

20:30

Concert Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective with Turtle Island Quartet

Zorlu PSM, Turkcell Platinum Stage

22:00

Concert Ayyuka

Babylon

30 SEP SAT
6

11:00

Workshop Wild Child Orchestra

Akbank Sanat

16:00

Conversation Turkey Jazz Network: Understanding the Venue through Music

Yeldeğirmeni Arts Center

19:00

Concert Hend

North Studio

20:00

Conversation Continents of Jazz

Outro Record Store

22:00

Concert Gabi Hartmann

Babylon

22:00

Concert LoftCaz Record Selection

Outro Record Store

01 OCT SUN
2

18:30

Concert İdil Naz Dönmez & Rüzgar Yıldırım

Alan Kadıköy Amphitheater

20:30

Concert Ozan Musluoğlu Quartet ft. Kerem Görsev

Alan Kadıköy

02 OCT MON
1

20:30

Concert Lakecia Benjamin “Phoenix”

Ses Tiyatrosu

03 OCT TUE
3

19:00

Concert Wayne Shorter Tribute Night

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Concert Şevket Akıncı, Mehmet Korkmaz, İlhami Tunç Gençer

Arter

20:30

Concert Sissoko / Segal / Parisien / Peirani “Les Egarés”

Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall

04 OCT WED
4

18:30

Concert Onur Çalışkan

CoBAC Workspace Terrace Garden

19:00

Concert Zoe Rahman Trio "Colour of Sound"

Akbank Sanat

21:30

Concert Immanuel Wilkins Trio

Babylon

21:30

Concert Tribute to Ella & Louis

Nardis Jazz Club

05 OCT THU
2

19:00

Concert Bulut Gülen “Bosphorus Train”

Akbank Sanat

21:30

Concert Hidden Orchestra

Babylon

06 OCT FRI
2

20:30

Concert Ladies and New Standards

Zorlu PSM, Turkcell Platinum Stage

22:00

Concert Mehmet Uluğ Tribute Night: İlhan Erşahin & Friends

Babylon

07 OCT SAT
4

11:00

Workshop Wild Child Orchestra

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Conversation Afro-Cuban Jazz: Past and Present

Akbank Sanat

20:30

Concert Tord Gustavsen Trio

Zorlu PSM, Turkcell Platinum Stage

22:00

Concert Erik Truffaz "Rollin’ & Clap!"

Babylon

08 OCT SUN
3

11:30

Concert Cazlı Brunch

Serenita, SES Eşitlik ve Dayanışma Derneği Lokali

16:00

Concert Alara Tütüncü Duo

MSGSÜ Tophane-i Amire Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi

19:00

Concert Seçil Akmirza & Alp Ersönmez Band

Bizim Tepe

09 OCT MON
-
10 OCT TUE
-
11 OCT WED
-
12 OCT THU
-
13 OCT FRI
-
14 OCT SAT
-
15 OCT SUN
-

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