Gregory Porter and Joshua Redman create the soundtrack of the summer at Istanbul Jazz Festival

Istanbul sparkled once again this year with marvellous concerts in the 31st edition of Istanbul Jazz Festival between 3-18 July. Organised by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) and sponsored by Garanti BBVA, the festival passed in high spirits after the elections held at the end of March, when the social democrats (CHP) of Turkey received the majority for the first time since 1977. Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was elected, with an exceptionally high number of votes, as the mayor of the city for a second term, spoke with his usual warmth and humour at the Festival Award Night on 3 July, held at the Austrian Consulate’s Cultural Forum Garden on the Bosporus. He once again declared CHP’s solid objective of expanding the cultural sphere in the city every single day, making it accessible to all the residents of Istanbul.

One of the most special guests of this year’s festival was the Modern Art Orchestra, led by the acclaimed Hungarian trumpet player and composer Kornél Fekete-Kovács. With their elegant melodies and harmonies that breathe contemporary classical music into their distinctive sounding jazz, this was an unforgettable night in the unique atmosphere of the Rahmi Koç Museum.

This year’s festival included two concerts with jazzified versions of well-known rock and pop songs. Legendary saxophonist/composer Joshua Redman was on stage with Gabrielle Cavassa (above), with whom he worked on his last album, as well as pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Philip Norris, and drummer Nazir Ebo. The group played from Redmans’s latest where are we (2023), a concept-album with the theme of place at its centre. After utterly creative versions of songs such as ‘Streets of Philadelphia’, they ended the night with their brilliant interpretation of ‘Ah Istanbul’, a well-known Turkish ballad from the diva of Turkey, Sezen Aksu. Baptiste Trotignon with Gregory Hutchinson on drums and Joe Sanders on double bass surprised the audience with their versions of various unforgettable British hits from ‘Karma Police’ by Radiohead to ‘Almost Blue’ by Elvis Costello, from their recent, and excellently-titled album, Brexit Music (2023).

The highlight of this year’s festival, for most of the audience, was Gregory Porter (above). On a beautiful night at the Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre, the echoes of his baritone voice were warm and deep as always. This great venue also hosted Chris Isaak, who played for the first time in Istanbul. With his great energy on stage, Isaak delighted the Turkish audience who had been waiting to hear him live for so many years.

Another musician who had wonderful communication with the audience was the renowned British saxophonist YolanDa Brown. In the beautiful Sultan Park, on the stage surrounded by centuries-old trees, she played some standards and made her audience sing and dance, but the best moments of the night were when she played her own compositions.

This year, Istanbul Jazz introduced a fresh event in the Pera district of Istanbul: in three historic buildings, three performers played their set for three times; and the audience, divided into three groups, moved from one venue to the next to watch their turn with each performer. The highlight of the event was the breathtaking concert of Kristjan Randalu Absence Trio with the Estonian musicians Randalu on piano and Jaak Sooäär on guitar, and the Finnish drummer Markku Ounaskari. The Night Out With +1, where simultaneous concerts are held in neighbouring venues in Kadıköy, was stunningly carnivalesque as always. The top performances of the night were by the Dutch avant-pop singer and composer Thomas Azier with his band, and the Turkish saxophone genius and composer Korhan Futacı accompanied by an orchestra of seven musicians. Both Azier and Futacı make a dark, deeply psychological, Dionysian music, a trait that makes them similar no matter how different their music from each other in terms of style.

In the free concerts at this year’s festival, Istanbulites had the chance to listen to some wonderful music, even in some remote corners of the city, from highly exciting bands such as Brass Riot from Germany, and Duckshell from Hungary, in addition to various outstanding Turkish bands. The Jazz Boat, an event unique to Istanbul Jazz, sailed on the Bosporus coast once again this year, with each section of the boat turned into a different stage.

Within the fifteen days of the festival, internationally acclaimed Turkish jazz musicians such as Coşku Turhan, and Can Çankaya who live abroad had the chance to meet with their Turkish audience as they performed with trios. Other important names from Turkey, such as Nilüfer Verdi Trio, and Kaan Çelen Trio, were also on stage, while the festival also hosted some other international musicians such as Saint Privat, and Arlo Parks.

What makes Istanbul Jazz such a special festival on a global scale is that it is held in one of the most historic and interesting cities in the world. Harun Izer, who has been directing the festival for the last six years, has a great talent in digging into Istanbul’s endless potential for venues with symbolic value and ambiance, and creating new concepts at the festival utilising these venues, while creating satisfying lineups despite all the hardship in the Turkish economy. We are already curious about the surprises of the 32nd edition of the festival!