‘Journey to Music with Deniz Taşar, ‘is a six-part video series for children by singer, songwriter, designer and multidisciplinary artist Deniz Taşar, who we know as a jazz musician but has expanded the boundaries of jazz with her recent productions, prepared in collaboration with İKSV Alt Kat and Istanbul Jazz Festival. The first episode of the series, which will be broadcast weekly, “Can You Converse With Melodies?” is on IKSV YouTube channel. The playlist by Deniz Taşar for the first episode is here.
Based on her own experiences; Deniz Taşar, who will touch on topics such as music as a communication tool, hearing the music in life, finding your own voice, expression of emotions through art, the freedom of jazz and improvisation, communication between different art forms, songwriting, making simple instruments, cares about this project a lot.
Deniz Taşar (Photo: Poyraz Tütüncü)“I believe that the creativity I have today was induced by the places I visited and saw, what I read, watched, listened to and heard in my childhood, and I feel very lucky to be able to spend my childhood nurtured by art. When IKSV proposed this project, I was very excited to be able to offer this opportunity to children, and I believe it is very valuable to arouse even the slightest curiosity in them. It is thanks to the liberating power of jazz music and improvisation that the creativity that has led me to produce, explore and observe since my childhood transformed me into a songwriter who tells her own story. The starting point of the project was jazz, but we expanded our context and created a series that visits many art forms, that looks at life with a different curiosity and eye, and does not separate genres and disciplines, so that I could convey my own knowledge in different aspects. We created the series for our children that we want to be liberated by creating, researching, having fun and learning. I explained what I know about myself with all transparency. I tried to convey how we can improve our skills of recognising our thoughts and feelings, expressing ourselves, and what a joy all that is, in a playful and musical way. That key that opens the door to creativity is sometimes just hidden in another look at our daily life, in a tiny detail, in the sound of the wind or in a picture we visualise. Let’s look for this key together.”
In the series, Deniz Taşar is accompanied by pianist and composer Adem Gülşen, with whom she will also play at the 28th Istanbul Jazz Festival in September. The guests are; Barış Doğukan Yazıcı on trumpet and Fırtına Kıral on drums and Deniz Taşar’s assistants Derin Şenkul and Demir Keskincan.
The video series, which was produced with the support of the United States Embassy and shot at Salon İKSV, will also be available on İKSV Alt Kat website with the audio description option.
1. Is it possible to chat with melodies?
2. Feelings hidden in chords?
3. Can we find our own voice?
4. Get free with improvisation!
5. Let your song tell your story!
6. Let’s play our song!
