Fusion of Anatolian music traditions with jazz

As the world marks International Jazz Day today, the director of a prominent Turkish music festival explains the link between the Turkish metropolis Istanbul and jazz music.

"Istanbul and jazz have a very long relationship - in fact, Istanbul is among the first European cities when jazz came to Europe from America, back in the 1920s," Harun İzer, the director of Istanbul Jazz Festival, organized since 1994, told state-run Anadolu Agency.

As Istanbul remains a city of jazz in Turkey, hosting performances and international stars besides producing local talent, the director also mentioned the fusion of Anatolian and local music traditions with jazz forming a geography and coming together.

According to İzer, the first jazz club and the venue was opened in the Turkish metropolis in the late 1960s. Also, the first international jazz festival in Turkey was held in Istanbul during the 1980s.

Over the years Istanbul has emerged as an important jazz hub with a growing number of musicians and fans and venues for festivals.

In 2011, UNESCO officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role in uniting people in all corners of the globe. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, across the globe several events are being held virtually.

According to İzer, one of the key features of jazz is its adaptable nature, which has made it acceptable as a universal music form during the last century.

"Wherever jazz goes, passionate musicians successfully fuse it with local forms and create something new. Adding to this, Turkish music is also based very much on another key feature of jazz, namely improvisation," he said.

Improvised performances<...