32. Akbank Jazz Festival

32. 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, Zorlu Center PSM, 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, Enrico Rava and Nicholas Payton.

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, Eskişehir, 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 presents a short selection of the 60's and 70's Turkish jazz panorama in this album.

Having supported the development of Turkish jazz for the past 30 years, Akbank Jazz Festival delivered an archival work in order to record and commemorate the current state of Turkish Jazz in 2020 without ever slowing down in this period of global pandemic, in which all dynamics have changed, concerts have been cancelled, and events have been postponed. The festival featured this album of original works that were published for the first time, and prepared by 30 jazz musicians and groups of Turkey by being inspired by their feelings or thoughts about the festival, the city, and current period. Named “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, the album that stands as an archival work reflecting the Turkish Jazz world, was released as a box set vinyl record and in digital format. The project has a crucial value not only as a special album but also as a documentary depicting and reflecting the spirit of both the past 30 years and the current period thanks to videos displaying record process and interviews with musicians.

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 Competition and Akbank Jazz Radio.

Akbank Jazz Festival is a member of European Jazz Network.

32. Akbank Jazz Festival

32. Akbank Jazz Festival

24 September - 9 October 2022

32. Akbank Jazz Festival Selection

Follow Us
TR EN
Filter events by label
11 MAR MON
2

18:00

Seminar The Culture & Ideology of Art

Online Platform – Zoom

19:00

Workshop With Barış MıhcıAxis Syllabus Dance and Movement Workshop(11 March)

Akbank Sanat

12 MAR TUE
-
13 MAR WED
1

18:30

Seminar Obsession

Akbank Sanat

14 MAR THU
-
15 MAR FRI
-
16 MAR SAT
3

12:00

Kid Colors and Dreams Workshop: T-shirt Painting (Ages 7 to 11)

Akbank Sanat

13:30

Workshop Colors and Dreams Workshop: Mug Painting (Ages 6 to 10)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Workshop Breath-Sound-Diction Relationship In Acting

Akbank Sanat

17 MAR SUN
-
18 MAR MON
1

18:00

Seminar Politics, Contemporary Art and Curation

Online Platform – Zoom

19 MAR TUE
-
20 MAR WED
-
21 MAR THU
1

19:00

Conversation Touches of Jazz in the Electronic World

Akbank Sanat

22 MAR FRI
1

18:30

Seminar Identity Impasse: A Phenomenological Approach to the Problem of Identity

Akbank Sanat

23 MAR SAT
4

11:30

Kid What Am I Going To Be?

Akbank Sanat

12:00

Kid The Istanbul I See (Ages 7 to 12)

Akbank Sanat

14:00

Kid Paper Sculptures: Henri Matisse (Ages 7 to 12)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Workshop Within Us

Akbank Sanat

24 MAR SUN
-
25 MAR MON
4

11:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

13:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

15:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

26 MAR TUE
6

11:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

13:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

15:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

17:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

20:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

27 MAR WED
7

11:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

13:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

14:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

15:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

17:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

20:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

28 MAR THU
7

11:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

13:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

14:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

15:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

17:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

20:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

29 MAR FRI
5

11:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

13:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

15:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

17:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

20:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

30 MAR SAT
6

11:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

13:00

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

14:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

15:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

17:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

20:30

20th Akbank Short Film Festival

Akbank Sanat

31 MAR SUN
-

Add event to your calendar

Subscribe to Newsletter