Meltem Ege at Nardis, 7 November
Nardis Jazz Club (Nardis Caz Klübü)
Bereketzade Mah., Galata Kulesi Sok. No 8, Kuledibi, Beyoğlu, 34421 İstanbul
Bookings are now carried out exclusively via email (focan@nardisjazz.com) or by telephone:
+90 212 244 63 27 – +90 244 57 78
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, having opened its doors in October 2002. Consisting of a stage, a ground floor seating area and a balcony, it has a maximum seating capacity of 120. Customers can have meals served at their tables. The club, which is named after a composition by Miles Davis, is owned by jazz musician Önder Focan and his wife Zuhal, the publisher and editor of Jazz magazine.
The nearest metro station is the Şişhane stop on the M2 line. Take the Şişhane exit, walk down the hill to the crossroads at Şişhane and turn left along Büyük Hendek Caddesi towards the Galata Tower. Go round the right-hand side of the tower and turn right into Galata Kulesi Sokak. A short way down this street you will see the Nardis Jazz Club on your right.
If coming from the İstiklal Caddesi exit from the Şişhane stop on the M2 metro line – the exit that is close to the upper terminus of the Tünel funicular – or from the Tünel itself, walk down Galip Dede Caddesi to the Galata Tower. (Galip Dede Caddesi is the street that carries straight on where the long stretch of İstiklal Caddesi turns a corner towards the Tünel entrance.) Walk round the right-hand side of the tower and follow the instructions above.
Jazz concerts are held every night of the week except Sunday. Seating is determined according to the order in which members of the audience arrive, starting at 20:30. Reservations are kept until 21:15 (i.e., 15 minutes before the music starts). Tables for two are limited. All other tables are shared. Here are 8 events not to miss.
Time: 21:30
THURSDAY, 05 NOVEMBER
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. During the İKSV Jazz Festival in July 2023, I heard İpek Göztepe perform with her quintet at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, and was very favourably impressed, especially when she let rip with some urgent, powerful singing. Accompanying her on November 05 are Adem Gülşen (piano), Barış Öztürk (double bass) and Sarp Evren (drums).
Price: 1000TL
SATURDAY, 07 NOVEMBER
Meltem Ege Quintet
Singer Meltem Ege, born in New York, began her musical career as a pianist. After relocating to Turkey with her family in 1991, she studied the piano at Bilkent University, Ankara. It was during her student years that she began singing jazz, as well as rock, funk and R&B. Having taken part in the ‘Dom Chemika’ summer school in Poland in 2006, in 2007 she was awarded first prize at the 12th ‘Lady Summertime’ Jazz Vocal Competition in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The following year, she came first in the ‘Jazz Voices’ competition in Lithuania.
In 2007, Meltem Ege began studying Jazz Vocal Performance at the Berklee College of Music in Boston; during this time, she worked together with Rhiannon Giddens, Joey Blake, Bob Stoloff, Lisa Thorson and Steven Santoro. In addition, she was awarded the title ‘Peer Advisor’ and represented Berklee as Student Ambassador in Canada. After graduating in 2010, she carried out postgraduate studies in performance and composition at the California Institute of Arts in Los Angeles, eventually obtaining a doctorate, and it is at this institution that she has been working since 2018.
On November 07, she is accompanied by Şenova Ülker (trumpet), Önder Focan (guitar), Ozan Musluoğlu (double bass) and Ekin Cengizkan (drums).
Price: 1000TL
TUESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER
Güç Başar Gülle Trio
After attending Boğaziçi University (Istanbul), where he read Philosophy, Güç Başar Gülle carried out postgraduate studies at the Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music Conservatoire. He then completed the (usually four-year) Jazz Composition course at the Berklee College of Music in just two years. Returning to Turkey, from 2007 to 2009 he studied Contemporary Composition at MİAM (the Dr. Erol Üçer Centre for Advanced Studies in Music at Istanbul Technical University). Musicians he has played with in the past include Leo Blanco, Bruno Råberg, David Fiuczynski, Tiger Okoshi, Bertram Lehmann, Andrew Downing and Marc Sinan; with some of these, he has taken part in ECM projects, and has been on tour in the United States, Canada and various countries in Europe.
Güç Başar Gülle has developed his own unique style of jazz harmony that combines elements of Western and Turkish music, and has given seminars on this subject at the Berklee College of Music, at the Berklee campus in Valencia (Spain), at Toronto University and with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, he has written books on harmony, ear training and keyboard skills. He is currently based in Istanbul, where he is pursuing a career as a composer, guitarist, educator and researcher. On November 10, his fellow performers are Alper Yılmaz (bass guitar) and Erkan Sönmez (drums).
Price: 1000TL
WEDNESDAY, 11 NOVEMBER
Özgü Dündar & The Masters
Vocalist Özgü Dündar received her musical education at the Çukurova University State Conservatoire in Mersin (where she studied the piano on a part-time basis); in the past, she has been a member of several groups including ‘Longplay’, ‘Euphonia’ and ‘Babas’, and has sung in choruses in Mersin and Adana. More recently, she has received training in trumpet-playing from Şenova Ülker and in jazz vocal from Sibel Köse and Yeşim Pekiner. In 2024, she entered the Berklee College of Music. A former prizewinner at the İKSV Young Jazz Competition and the 20th Nardis Young Jazz Musicians Competition, she sings both jazz standards and pieces of her own composition, her style being a mixture of modern jazz, groove and improvisation. Appearing with her on November 11 are Şenova Ülker (trumpet), Önder Focan (guitar), Barış Öztürk (double bass) and Berkay Sümbül (drums).
Price: 1000TL
THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER
Kaan Bıyıkoğlu Quintet
Pianist Kaan Bıyıkoğlu’s musical career began in Ankara, where he studied the piano with Prof. Semra Kartal at the Middle East Technical University, meanwhile performing with the legendary pianist, saxophonist, composer and pedagogue Tuna Ötenel, the Bulgarian singer Yıldız Ibrahimova, the saxophonist Yahya Dai and the late double-bass player Kürşat And (1964-2013). He then attended the Başkent University State Conservatoire, where he received further tuition in classical piano from Mehmet Okonşar. In 2006 he moved to the Netherlands to study jazz piano, harmony, composition and orchestration at the Rotterdam Conservatoire. Having taken part in various festivals, concerts, radio and TV programmes and recording sessions in Holland, Belgium and Germany, in 2013 he returned to Turkey, where for a time he taught piano and harmony in the Jazz Department of Hacettepe University, Ankara. Kaan Bıyıkoğlu is currently preparing for a doctorate at MİAM, the Dr. Erol Üçer Centre for Advanced Studies in Music at Istanbul Technical University. On November 12, he performs with Kaan Karadavut (trumpet), Batu Şallıel (tenor saxophone), Enver Muhamedi (double bass) and Ekin Cengizkan (drums).
Price: 1000TL
SATURDAY, 21 NOVEMBER
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.
In addition to performing, Sibel Köse currently teaches jazz at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul. In March this year she released an album entitled In Good Company; more recently, Özgün, an album in which she is accompanied by the guitarist and double-bass player Kamil Erdem, has appeared. Accompanying her on November 21 are Engin Recepoğulları (tenor saxophone), Kürşad Deniz (piano), Kağan Yıldız (double bass) and Berke Özgümüş (drums).
Price: 1000TL
WEDNESDAY, 25 NOVEMBER
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.
Price: 1000TL
THURSDAY, 26 NOVEMBER
Berna Çiçeksever Quartet
Berna Çiçeksever’s musical career began at the age of 9, when she began singing in the Turkish Classical Music Children’s Chorus. Having studied Landscape Architecture for her first degree, she left off graduate studies in Architecture to launch her singing career. Her first steps in this direction involved playing the leading role in a musical and sharing the stage with the singer Zülfü Livaneli on his concert tours. She then took a course in Vocal Performance and Production at the London College of Contemporary Music, following which she gave solo performances, made recordings in Britain and Turkey, and released an album consisting of her own compositions and arrangements. In 2010 she was awarded the title ‘Best Female Singer’ at the ‘Rock’n Dark’ Music Competition event in Turkey. As well as taking on roles in films and TV series, Berna Çiçeksever is currently continuing to write songs in Turkish and English; at the same time, she is performing as soloist with the Kent Orchestra in Istanbul. Sharing the stage with her on November 26 are Sercan Pamuk (accordion and piano), Enver Ferah (bass) and Berke Köymen (drums).
Price: 1000TL
Meltem Ege at Nardis, 7 November
Bova Jazz Club November Highlights
