33. Akbank Jazz Festival

33. 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.

33. Akbank Jazz Festival

33. Akbank Jazz Festival

23 September - 8 October 2023

33. Akbank Jazz Festival Selection

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12 MAY MON
2

18:00

Seminar From New Media to Digital Art

Online Platform – Zoom

20:00

Learning Program An Alternative View on Art and Children

Online Platform – Zoom

13 MAY TUE
1

20:00

Learning Program An Alternative View on Art and Children

Online Platform – Zoom

14 MAY WED
1

20:00

Learning Program An Alternative View on Art and Children

Online Platform – Zoom

15 MAY THU
2

18:00

Seminar Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Nature's Intelligence

Online Platform – Zoom

20:00

Learning Program An Alternative View on Art and Children

Online Platform – Zoom

16 MAY FRI
4

16:30

Workshop For Youth: Expressive Mask-Making and Collective Creation Workshop

Akbank Sanat

18:00

Seminar The Atlas Project: Excerpts from a Curatorial Research

Online Platform – Zoom

18:30

Seminar Courtyards

Akbank Sanat

18:30

Workshop Sculpture Workshop for Youth: A Fictional World from Clay

Akbank Sanat

17 MAY SAT
6

12:00

Children’s Theatre Akbank Children’s Theatre
"What Am I Going To Be?"

Akbank Sanat

12:00

Children Workshop A City: The Journey of Lost Voices
(Ages 5-9)

Akbank Sanat

13:30

Children Workshop Istanbul in My Library: Book Nook Workshop
(Ages 5-9)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Acting Workshop Creating Situation and Psychophysical Action - I

Akbank Sanat

15:30

Children Workshop Tracing Migratory Birds: Birdhouse Design Workshop
(Ages 6-10)

Akbank Sanat

17:30

Adult Workshop Upcycling Workshops: Creative Prints with Waste Materials

Akbank Sanat

18 MAY SUN
2

14:00

Adult Workshop Alphabet Experimental Photography Workshop (May - Group 1)

Akbank Sanat

17:00

Adult Workshop Alphabet Experimental Photography Workshop (May - Group 2)

Akbank Sanat

19 MAY MON
-
20 MAY TUE
-
21 MAY WED
1

18:30

Seminar (CANCELLED) The Current State of Digital Technologies: 'New Wave Artificial Intelligence', Promises and Problems

Akbank Sanat

22 MAY THU
1

19:30

Conversation ​Producing From Waste

Akbank Sanat

23 MAY FRI
1

18:30

Conversation Loneliness

Akbank Sanat

24 MAY SAT
7

12:00

Children Workshop A City: The Journey of Lost Voices
(Ages 5-9)

Akbank Sanat

13:30

Children Workshop Istanbul in My Library: Book Nook Workshop
(Ages 5-9)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Adult Workshop Alphabet Experimental Photography Workshop (March - Group 1)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Adult Workshop Alphabet Experimental Photography Workshop (March - Group 2)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Adult Workshop Alphabet Experimental Photography Workshop (May - Group 1)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Adult Workshop Alphabet Experimental Photography Workshop (May - Group 2)

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Acting Workshop Creating Situation and Psychophysical Action - II

Akbank Sanat

25 MAY SUN
-
26 MAY MON
-
27 MAY TUE
-
28 MAY WED
-
29 MAY THU
-
30 MAY FRI
-
31 MAY SAT
-
01 JUN SUN
-

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