JUNE 23, 2009
Istanbul Live Concert Brings Turkish Stars To New York
Central Park Summerstage To Host Unprecedented Gathering Of Turkish Musicians In New York
On Saturday, June 27th, New York City will be treated to one of the largest assemblies of musicians from Turkey ever gathered on an American stage. The Istanbul Live Concert, a free event presented as part of Central Park's SummerStage series, will feature four unprecedented diverse hours of Turkish music by three Istanbul-based artists and their guests. The free concert will began at 2:00 pm EST in Central Park's Rumsey Playfield.
Billed as "a celebration of Turkish music and culture," the Istanbul Live event will feature performances from legendary Turkish folk rockers Mazhar Fuat Özkan (MFÖ), emerging pop stars Painted on Water, Turkish/Greek duo Hüsnü Senlendirici and Vassilis Saleas, singer/songwriter Emre Yilmaz, and New York's own Eastern Mediterranean-influenced NY Gypsy All-Stars and Brooklyn funk essenials.
Mazhar Fuat Özkan (or MFÖ) has been an institution in Turkey for more than 30 years, although their roots can be traced all the way back to 1966, when Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Güner met over a mutual love of the Beatles. By the 1970s, with Özkan Ugur now among their ranks, MFÖ began their award-winning reign. With sentimental as well as humorous lyrics that speak to the lives of the Turkish people-and a richly harmonic folk-rock sound that has been compared to Crosby, Stills & Nash and Simon & Garfunkel-Mazhar Fuat Özkan remains one of the most respected bands in Turkey.
Painted on Water is the title of both the band and the ambitious new recording project featuring Sertab Erener, one of the most eminent voices in Turkish pop music, and Turkish rock star, Demir Demirkan, her producer, arranger and songwriting partner. The album, with lyrics in English, combines traditional Turkish folk song with American jazz, pop/rock and blues and features guest appearances by such A-list musicians as jazz guitar giants Al Di Meola and Mike Stern, bassist Kai Eckhardt, keyboardists Alan Pasqua and Tulug Tirpan, drummer Dave Weckl and percussionist Trilok Gurtu. The classically trained Erener is the first and only Turkish artist to win first prize in the esteemed Eurovision competition, with "Every Way That I Can," a song she wrote with the multi-talented Demirkan, who has released 6 albums and 2 film scores, one being a recent Critic's Award Winner.
Hüsnü Senlendirici is one of the most virtuosic clarinetist in southeastern Europe. Senlendirici-who has collaborated with Al Di Meola, tabla legend Zakir Hussain and Bulgarian clarinetist Ivo Paposov-is a prolific conservatory-trained Turkish master whose debut album, The Joy of Clarinet, held the number 1 position on Turkey's pop charts for three months, a record-setting first for an instrumental album.
Vassilis Saleas is considered the foremost clarinetist in Greece. Best known for his work accompanying Greek new age instrumentalist Vangelis, Saleas is also a highly regarded solo artist in his homeland. He will be flying in from Athens exclusively to share the same stage with Hüsnü Senlendirici on this special occasion.
Backing the two clarinetists will be NY Gypsy All-Stars, a non-stop party band steeped in the traditions of Turkish and Balkan music but equally fluent in contemporary jazz and dance. The group features clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski (born in Macedonia), bassist Panagiotis Andreou (from Greece), Macedonia native Seido Salifoski (on darbouka and dumbek), Tamer Pinarbasi from Turkey (on qanún), and Turkish drummer Engin Gunaydin.
Also performing will be guitarist/singer/songwriter Emre Yilmaz and the eclectic Brooklyn Funk Essentials. BFE's 1998 album In the Buzzbag, which also featured Hüsnü Senlendirici and his band Laço Tayfa, is considered an album ahead of its time, a landmark in the fusion of Eastern motifs with funk, reggae, hip-hop, Latin and acid jazz.
Istanbulive is supported by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism as part of its ongoing efforts to promote Turkey as a destination country and is produced by Serdar Ilhan and Mehmet Dede, veterans of the New York concert scene whose mission is to introduce the music of Turkey to America through events, showcases and educational programs. The producers highlight Istanbul and New York's similarities by bringing together musicians from different backgrounds, including Turkish, Greek and Armenian, to advocate mutual understanding and respect between ethnic cultures, while showcasing the extraordinary virtuosity and diversity found in Turkish music today.