Melis Öğüt plays at Bova on August 14.
Image: Nardis Jazz Club
The Bova Jazz Club, located in Mis Sokak (towards the Taksim end of İstiklal Caddesi), regularly hosts some of Turkey’s finest jazz musicians. They organise events every day of the month, and are especially strong on modern and improvised jazz. The performance space is small, to say the least, and advance booking is definitely advised (sitting on a crowded staircase isn’t particularly comfortable). The staff are friendly and helpful, even in the face of unreasonable requests. Here are five events not to miss.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13
21:30 İmer Demirer Quartet
İmer Demirer is a first-class trumpet-player of such outstanding originality that the remark made by singer Randy Esen while describing how she had chosen him to play on her latest album is entirely justified: “İmer …” she said, “Man, I mean, what can I say … he was the only choice.” In my blog on a previous concert at the Bova Jazz Club, I said that ‘İmer, whose playing is invariably tasteful, was nothing less than magnificent.’ Having heard İmer Demirer play more recently in a gig celebrating the songs of Ayten Alpman (who was in fact his mother-in-law), I can vouch for the fact that his soaring creativity is undiminished.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
20:30 Melis Öğüt Quintet
Melis Öğüt, a young guitarist, began taking an interest in jazz while at the German School (Alman Lisesi) in Istanbul. In November 2025, she was chosen by Gibson guitars as their official ‘young generation musician’, and this February performed at the Gibson Garage in London. Since the beginning of 2025, she has often appeared with the singer Kıraç. Most recently, in January of this year she came first in the ‘solo guitar’ category of the Jugend Musiziert (‘Young Musicians’) competition in Germany, later winning a prize in the Nardis Young Jazz Musicians competition.
22:30 İmer Demirer Quartet
İmer Demirer is a first-class trumpet-player of such outstanding originality that the remark made by singer Randy Esen while describing how she had chosen him to play on her latest album is entirely justified: “İmer …” she said, “Man, I mean, what can I say … he was the only choice.” In my blog on a previous concert at the Bova Jazz Club, I said that ‘İmer, whose playing is invariably tasteful, was nothing less than magnificent.’ Having heard İmer Demirer play more recently in a gig celebrating the songs of Ayten Alpman (who was in fact his mother-in-law), I can vouch for the fact that his soaring creativity is undiminished.
MONDAY, AUGUST 17
21:30 Jam Session hosted by Tamer Temel
Saxophonist and composer Tamer Temel, born in Istanbul in 1975, began playing jazz while reading Economics at Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir. Having been awarded a scholarship during the 2005 European Jazz Festival, he attended the Siena Master Class summer course in Italy, receiving further tuition from the distinguished saxophonist Mark Turner. He released his first album, Barcelona, in 2010, and this was followed in 2013 by Bir Kedi Kara (‘A Cat Black’). Serbest Düşüş (‘Free Fall’), his most recent album, was released at the end of 2016. Other musicians who have appeared on his albums include guitarists Dave Allen and Eylül Biçer, bassists Masa Kamaguchi and Volkan Topakoğlu, double-bass player Matt Hall, drummers Marc Miralta, Cem Aksel and Volkan Öktem, pianist Serkan Özyılmaz and vibraphonist Kenny Wollesen. Tamer Temel currently performs with a number of leadingTurkish musicians, as well as with ‘Flapper Swing’, a group that keeps alive the musical atmosphere of the roaring 1920s. He currently teaches jazz at Bahçeşehir University (Istanbul). His style is modern, and in my opinion musically very satisfying.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
20:30 İpek Göztepe Quartet
İpek Göztepe, who began her musical education in the piano department of the Istanbul University State Conservatoire, subsequently sang Turkish classical and Western music in various choirs. Her interest in jazz and soul dates from 2013, when she began appearing at local venues as a lead singer. In 2017 she won the 13th Nardis Young Jazz Vocalists Competition and the İKSV’s ‘Young Jazz’ Competition, which entitled her to attend the Pulawy Jazz Workshop in Poland. Then, in 2024, she completed a course in jazz vocal at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. Her teachers in Turkey have included Güç Başar Gülle (for jazz theory) and Randy Esen (the wife of Aydın Esen) for jazz singing. She is currently continuing her education at the Yıldız University Communication Design Department.
22:30 Groove Jam
I have no direct information on this event, but according to AI, a Turkish band calling itself ‘Groove Jam’ might be one of the following: (1) A regional live jam session or a specific genre crossover event blending traditional Turkish rhythms (such as 9/8 Thracian/Roman metres) with funk and jazz improvisations; or (2) a contemporary Turkish psychedelic, rock and groove-fusion outfit mixing traditional Anatolian folk with modern electronic and bass grooves. If this information is incorrect, I hereby apologise to the musicians concerned.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26
21:30 Bora Çeliker Trio
Guitarist Bora Çeliker, who is also a singer, is not just a highly experienced performer of mainstream jazz and blues but also a gifted improviser. At university in Ankara, he founded blues groups by the name of ‘The Crawling Snakes’, ‘The Jukes’ and ‘The King Bees’. Having played mainly blues up to that time, in 1999 he launched out into jazz, participating in a group that was headed by Janusz Szprot, a Polish musician who had come to Ankara to head up the Jazz Department of Bilkent University. Two years later, he started playing in the Alan Ginter Quartet with the legendary Turkish pianist, saxophonist and composer Tuna Ötenel. Bora Çeliker has in the past played with a number of leading Turkish jazz musicians, as well as with former Bilgi University jazz teacher Ricky Ford.
Melis Öğüt plays at Bova on August 14.
Image: Nardis Jazz Club
