The Nardis Jazz Club, situated in an old Genoese building in a side street close to the Galata Tower, is Istanbul’s oldest venue of its kind. It has a maximum seating capacity of 120. Customers can have meals served at their tables. Here are some August highlights.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6
Flapper Swing
Flapper Swing is a ‘manouche’ (i.e., gypsy jazz) group in the tradition of the Belgian-Romani jazz guitarist Jean ‘Django’ Reinhardt (1910-1953) and the American saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Sidney Bechet (1897-1959). It keeps alive the musical atmosphere of the roaring 1920s – ‘the times when jazz was still fun’. The group has five members: Nevin Hetmanek on vocals, Batu Şallıel on tenor saxophone, Erhan Erbelger and Tomas Hetmanek on guitars, and Volkan Topakoğlu on double bass. (I believe Tomas Hetmanek hails from the Czech Republic.) They appear on stage in 1920s costume, but the audience is at liberty to dress as they will. I have fond memories of the times when Flapper Swing played in the street – at the Tünel end of İstiklal Caddesi. I always admired their blend of musical professionalism and good humour.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8
Sibel Köse Quintet
The inimitable Sibel Köse, dubbed ‘the Queen of European Jazz’, is a vocalist of outstanding talent. She began singing jazz while studying Architecture at the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ), Ankara; during this time, she performed with the legendary Turkish jazz pianist, saxophonist and composer Tuna Ötenel. She says she learned a lot from him, though he never gave her formal lessons. The second influence on her artistic development was Janusz Szprot, a Polish musician who came to Ankara in the 1990s to head up the Jazz Department of Bilkent University. He invited her to attend a summer school for jazz vocalists in his native country, and she received tuition there from Deborah Brown and Rachel Gould, two singers from the USA. A third major influencer, meanwhile, has been the French trumpet-player, composer and arranger Jean-Loup Longnon; she has recently made recordings with his big band at the Studios Ferber in Paris.
Last time I saw Sibel perform at Nardis, I said the following in my blog: ‘Over the three-and-a-bit years since I last had the privilege of hearing her, nothing of her energy has been lost: if anything, her singing is more powerful than ever. She hits the high notes with tremendous force and faultless intonation; she improvises creatively with nonsense words even more frequently than before, fashioning them into meaningful episodes within the song as a whole; and her emotional range remains unrivalled within my experience of jazz singers. All this is mixed in with both a searing sincerity and a wry sense of humour. How could anyone fail to enjoy and appreciate her artistry?’
At the concert on August 8 she will be accompanied by Engin Recepoğulları (tenor saxophone), Kürşad Deniz (piano), Kağan Yıldız (double bass) and Ekin Cengizkan (drums).
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21
Dilek Sert Erdoğan Band
Dilek Sert Erdoğan, reputed to be Turkey’s most powerful soul vocalist, has a voice that has been described as ‘black satin’, her style being a mixture of jazz, soul, funk, blues and improvisation. Born in 1976, she is a graduate of the Istanbul University Department of English Language and Literature. An actress as well as a singer, in the past she has been a news reader on the BBC Forex radio station and a foreign news coordinator for the ‘Kanal D’ TV channel; she has also prepared radio programmes for ‘Atlas’ magazine. Her first album, entitled Moments, appeared in 2013, and proved very popular; all the songs on it were written by the lady herself. On this occasion she will be accompanied by Koray Üsgülen (Hammond organ and piano), Sıtkı Sırtanadolu (guitar), Burak Atlı (bass guitar) and Berke Köymen (drums).
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28
Evrim Özşuca Quintet
Evrim Özşuca took her first steps towards a career as a musician at Bilkent University, Ankara, where she began studying the cello at the age of 13. Having formed her first jazz group at 17, she attended the Music Department of Bilgi University, Istanbul, graduating as a jazz vocalist. In 2005, she won the Nardis Jazz Club’s Young Jazz Vocalists Competition and the International Young Jazz Vocalists Competition at the Nömme Jazz Festival in Estonia. As a result, she was invited to sing at festivals in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. Following this, she gave concerts together with trumpeter Ted Curson in New York and Paris, performing on his album In Paris – Live at the Sunside. Back in Turkey, she took part in pianist, composer and pedagogue Ali Perret’s ‘Atonal Standards’ project. Evrim Özşuca is a versatile performer, combining blues, R&B, soul and funk; for the last 22 years she has also been teaching jazz vocal. In 2009 she founded a group by the name of ‘Effective’, and has been performing with them since then. On this occasion, she is to be accompanied by Özay Korkut (piano), Barış Ertürk (tenor saxophone), Barış Öztürk (double bass) and Erhan Seçkin (drums).
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29
Ceren Temel Quintet
Vocalist, songwriter and pedagogue Ceren Temel has a repertoire that encompasses a wide range of styles from bebop to modern jazz. She is noted for her improvisations, her own compositions and her original takes on jazz standards. In Berlin in 2022 she created a project entitled ‘I’m the Voice and I Can’t Be Silenced!’ together with spoken word, performance and visual artist Lady Gaby; making use of loops and vocal improvisations, it focussed on women’s rights and feminism. That year also saw the appearance of The Rewind – her first EP album, consisting of five of her own compositions. From 2019 to 2022, Ceren Temel taught jazz vocal at the Hacettepe University State Conservatoire in Ankara. Since 2023, she has been teaching ear training and basic musicianship at Kadir Has University, Istanbul. On 29th August she will be accompanied by Onur Yalçın (trumpet), Onat Murat (piano), Kağan Yıldız (double bass) and Burak Bulut (drums).
MONDAY, AUGUST 31
Anıl Şallıel: ‘166 Days’
Saxophonist, clarinettist and flautist Anıl Şallıel, born in 1993, began playing professionally at the age of 14. When he was 15, he performed in the Orhan Osman project along with the famous percussionist Dave Weckl. Other ensembles he has taken part in include Kavela, Effective Band, Onur Mete Band, Ercüment Vural Band, Istanbul Superband and Aşkın Arsunan Jazzino Band. Meanwhile, he has played and made recordings with Turkish pop stars such as Göksel, Volkan Konak, Teoman, Yalın, Manga, Sıla and Mehmet Erdem. His playing has also been heard in jingles and film music. In 2012 and 2013, he took part in the ‘What da Funk’ project, accompanying singers such as Kelli Sae and Omar; the group’s album appeared at the end of 2017. Then, in 2019, he produced an album of his own entitled 166 Days; it featured clarinettist Hüsnü Şenlendirici, singer Deniz Taşar, guitarists Önder Focan and Cenk Erdoğan, saxophonist Batu Şallıel (his brother) and others. Accompanying him on August 31 will be Tolga Erzurumlu (piano), Önder Focan (guitar), Mustafa İpekçioğlu (bağlama), Enver Muhamedi (double bass) and Nesim Maxhuni (drums).
