With a program that will see a range of stars from Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller to Natalie Cole and folk legend Paul Simon to Malian legends Amadou and Mariam descend upon İstanbul, this year’s festival promises no less excitement than editions past.
The 18th festival will run July 1-19, featuring over 40 live gigs by around 300 performers from Turkey and abroad in a host of different locations around the city -- from its regular venues such as the Cemil Topuzlu Open-air Theater, the İstanbul Archaeology Museum and The Marmara Esma Sultan, to the newly included Santralİstanbul amphitheater and the Tersane (shipyard) Stage.
Festival director Pelin Opçin announced the star-studded program for the upcoming edition Tuesday night at a news conference at the İKSV Salon in Şişhane.
The 18th festival, whose slogan is “Heart of Jazz,” will open on June 30 with a performance that will bring two stars of the Turkish jazz music scene -- the “New Frank Sinatra” Simavi and the Emin Fındıkoğlu Band -- to the same stage at the Esma Sultan. The opening night will also see Okay Temiz, a legendary jazz percussionist whose career spans some five decades, receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The second edition of the Tünel Feast, a “festival within a festival” made up of admission-free street performances in Galata and Tünel that was introduced into the lineup last year, will take place on the first weekend of the festival, featuring an even more comprehensive program than last year’s, the organizers said.
Arguably the most eagerly anticipated concert on the entire bill is a world premiere: “Tribute to Miles,” which will feature Jazz greats Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on saxophone and Marcus Miller on bass will join forces with Sean Jones on trumpet and Sean Rickman on drums to form a unique quintet to paying homage to American musical genius Miles Davis on the 20th anniversary of his death on July 7. The concert will take place at the Cemil Topuzlu Open-air Theater. Billed as a “musical retrospective,” this “Tribute to Miles” will then hit the road for a nine-gig European tour.
Randy Crawford and Joe Sample will present a flawless mix of pop, jazz and R&B on July 13 at the Cemil Topuzlu, taking to the stage right before Natalie Cole, the nine-time Grammy-winning singer, who will present songs about love and hope for festival-goers in the second part of the July 13 concert.
One of the last concerts on the bill will feature Amadou & Mariam, best known for their original blend of Malian music with rock guitars, Syrian violins, Indian tabla and percussions. The couple will be onstage July 18 at the Esma Sultan.
Paul Simon, the American legend who just last month released his newest solo album, “So Beautiful or So What,” will make his first-ever Turkey appearance when he takes to the Cemil Topuzlu stage on the night of July 19, capping this year’s program. Tickets for the festival go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Biletix. For a full program, see http://caz.iksv.org/en.