2007 Turkish Diary in London

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JULY

London's FREE festival on the South Bank. Turkish Fest

Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 July, 12-7pm
Bernie Spain Gardens, Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1
Located on the riverside walkway between Gabriel's Wharf and Oxo Tower Wharf Nearest train/tube: Blackfriars, Waterloo
Admission: FREE
24 hour information line: 020 7401 2255




Back for a fourth year running is Turkish Fest – a feast of Turkish culture with music, dance, food & craft stalls, family workshops and much more.The music line-up showcases a mix of traditional and contemporary sounds including folk, plus fabulous displays of belly dancing. Enjoy the delicious variety of Turkish food and drink from pilav and dolma to lokum (turkish delight) and baklava.There are also stalls selling Turkish textiles, jewellery and other crafts to take home.

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World London Festival at the South Bank Centre
Queen Elizabeth Hall & Purcell Room
Belvedere Rd, SE1 8XX
Tel: 08716632500



The Nicolas Meier Group

Friday 20 July 2007, 5:15 P.M.
Queen Elizabeth Hall



London guitarist Nicolas Meier is a rising star, his trademark sound a mixture of Methenyesque jazz and spicy Turkish and oriental music rhythms. Already well known in Europe, where he has shared the bill with illustrious names as Elvin Jones, Brad Meldau, Trilok Gurtu and Bill Evans, The Nicolas Meier Group, featuring Gilad Atzmon on saxophone and clarinet, is a bridge between jazz and world music.The band consists of Nicolas Meier (guitars, baglama saz), Dave O'Higgins (saxophone, clarinet), Tom Mason (acoustic bass) and Laurence Lowe (drums).


Muslum Gurses

Saturday 21 July 2007, 7:30 P.M.
Purcell Room



With over 60 albums to his name, Muslum Gurses, or Baba (Father) Muslum as he is known by millions of fans, is one of Turkey's leading singers of Arabesque music; intensely emotional song, Arabic rhythms, and orchestral oriental strings, all characterise what is unquestionably Turkey's most popular music form. Gürses, in his 50s, has a strong following among the urban youth and has recently collaborated with Turkish rock band Duman as well as releasing a hugely successful album of songs by Garbage, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Bjork and others, sung in his unmistakable Arabesque style. Gurses appears with a 10-piece orchestra performing songs from his covers album as well as other classics.


Goksel Baktagir’s Dream of Istanbul (Istanbul Ruzgary)

Friday 20 July 2007, 7:30 P.M.
Queen Elizabeth Hall



Internationally-known through his work as instrumentalist with Mercan Dede and a host of recordings under his own name, Goksel Baktagir is one of Turkey's leading players of kanun, the incredibly difficult Middle Eastern harp played on the lap. In this project he brings together fiery violin virtuoso Nedim Nalbantoglu (last seen in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2004 as part of Soul of the Fiddle) as well as New Zealand harpist Nathalie Mann and percussionist Izzet Kizil to perform a romantic flowing and energetic contemporary take on Turkish classical music, rooted in the forms of Ottoman Art (sanat) Music.


Sabahat Akkiraz, Smadj (SOS) and Orient Expressions

Friday 20 July 2007, 7:45 P.M.
Purcell Room




Three groups come together in a blend of traditional roots with a contemporary approach. Sabahat Akkiraz is one of Turkey's best-loved singers of the folk style known as türkü, with many songs from the Anatolian Alevi tradition. Her distinctive voice has been heard at the London Jazz Festival with the Grand Union Orchestra as well as across Europe. In this concert she presents traditional material with her own group as well as with Orient Expressions, a popular ethno-electronic group whose tracks have appeared on numerous compilations. The concert opens with the dynamic trio of Smadj, Orhan Osman and Savaz Zurnaci (SOS). Istanbul-based Tunisian electronics conjurer and oud player Smadj has won acclaim for his various projects such as DuOuD. In this latest group he brings together two master instrumentalists - Greek-Turkish bouzouki virtuoso Orhan Osman and Savas Zurnaci on turkish clarinet.


Ayse Tutuncu Trio

Saturday 21 July 2007, 7:30 P.M.
Queen Elizabeth Hall



Following well-received performances at London Jazz Festival 2006 and a release on Blue Note, Ayse Tutuncu returns to London with her delightfully personal and energised take on jazz meets classical meets world music. Leading clarinettist Oguz Buyukberber and saxophonist Yahya Dai are longstanding partners and the trio deliver tight intuitive improvisations based on tangos, ragtimes, Debussy, a song by Carla Bley, and Turkish melodies, never failing to delight.

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JUNE

Selim Sesler & Brenna MacCrimmon
Barbican Hall
2 June 2007

Sesler is joined by the vocalist Brenna MacCrimmon. The great Turkish clarinettist Selim Sesler a master of the wild wedding music from Thrace, the European part of Turkey, will perform at the Barbican Centre as part of the "The 1000 Year Journey" and "World & Roots" events program.



For more information:

Barbican Centre
Silk Street London
EC2Y 8DS
Box Office & Membership: 020 7638 8891 (9am-8pm daily)
Group Bookings: 020 7382 7211 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm)
Switchboard: 020 7638 4141

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FEBRUARY

Black Sea Bohemian Group Art Exhibition
Mall Galleries, London
Tues 20 February 2007 to Sat 24 February 2007

Sükrü Sehir, a Turkish painter, brings together an exhibition with leading Bulgarian artists, Valeri Iliev Enchev and Zhelyo Popov which captures a unique blend of Eastern and Western passions. Through their imaginative use of colour, three distinct artists unite to express their original and radical interpretations of Black Sea Bulgarian and Turkish cultures. Admission free. For venue detailsplease telephone 020 7930 6844.

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JANUARY

22 January to Saturday 3 March 2007
Climates: Turkey cinemascope
National Theatre Olivier Circle Gallery

Photographs by Nuri Bilge Ceylan:
An exhibition which highlights a selection of photographs Ceylan took during the past 4 years while he was scouting for film locations in Turkey, Cinemascope will be on display at the National Theatre from 22nd January. These wide screen photographic landscapes and portraits of Turkey and its people are stunningly beautiful and relate to his films in both style and geography.Ceylan's multi-award winning film Climates goes on general release in the UK on 9th February.

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JANUARY

NIL KARAIBRAHIMGIL ON BBC RADIO LONDON + LONDON CONCERT
Listen to Nil Karaibrahimgil Live on BBC Radio London 94.9FM

Next Saturday 27th January 8pm-10pm 94.9FM

DJ Ritu of BBC Radio London has invited Turkish singer Nil Karaibrahimgil for a LIVE interview on BBC Radio London this Saturday 27th February between 8pm and 10pm. Ritu is a fan of Nil, whom she sees as a kind of ‘Turkish Lily Allen’. Like Lily Allen, Nil’s songs have their own personal style, deal with everyday problems and hopes, and are bringing something new to Turkish music.

Nil is coming to London in advance of her concert in London on Sunday 25th February at Islington Carling Academy. Her concert is sponsored by Sweetworld (distributor of Ulker, Eti and Kent brands), Turkish Bank (UK) Ltd. and Roksan Audio.

Nil has had three successful albums on the Sony label in Turkey. She is also well known on TV for her advertising jingles (Cola Turka, Cornetto, Hazir Kart and others) as well as singing the soundtrack to the film Orgaize Isler Bunlar.
Fans will have a chance to see Nil and her band at Islington Carling Academy on Sunday 25th February 7-11pm. The concert is being organised by Sebastian Merrick of Kazum!
For more information about the concert call 07966 452557 (Sebastian) or 07921 926443 (Emre)