This year the Istanbul Jazz Festival only consists of the Kamasi Washington concert for me. I had attended only one other concert previously during the festival and did not enjoy it at all. As you know, a majority of the concerts have been cancelled following the 15th of July. I am writing this with a bit of a delay as might be guessed. I am not complaining. I inhaled such an atmosphere as to last me until the end of the summer at Kamasi Washington’s concert. I had a wonderful time on the evening of the 14th of July, wandering around to get the feeling of both the venue and the music, and absorbing the incredible energy emitted by the young audience. We occasionally see or read Kamasi’s music being called “the future of jazz”. While this might be a bit of an exaggeration, seeing how the youth is drawn to his music one can understand how this claim came about. Both Kamasi Washington’s solos that he injects within funk, and the improvisations of the band aren’t always so easy to swallow. It was an amazing sight to see the audience keeping up with this mood; they are both having fun and getting hyped up in the complexity of the music. The fame of this band comes from this exact magical combination and its almost magnetic pull of their performance. Kamari Washington and the members of the group have been friends since high school. Being together and performing together for such a long time is a key aspect of their music. Through this friendship, I also realised that the way musicians interact through sharing and working together might point to the future we are hoping for.
Serdar Karabatı
It must be noted that the venue of the Old Beykoz Shoe Factory (Eski Beykoz Kundura Fabrikası) is a great choice on the festival’s part. A similar interaction was created at Camialtı Tersanesi five years ago; it was announced as ‘an odd place for jazz’. I actually enjoy such gatherings, it adds another layer of excitement to the event and brings the festival activities to different neighbourhoods within the city. Beykoz is not so easy to access for the majority of the audience, but this problem was mainly solved by commuting ships at Kabataş and Üsküdar ports. I, on the other hand, crossed the Bosphorus from Sarıyer, through Anadolukavağı. This might be a harder way to travel to the venue compared to the ships, but it was worth it. It was such a pleasant and peaceful experience to travel through Anadolukavağı during the midweek and at the sunset. If the Beykoz Shoe Factory is to be used again next year, this route might be added as another option. This way, the audience who are travelling from the North of the Bosphorus doesn’t have to go around a big part of the shore during their commute.
Sedat Antay
It was important that both the musicians and the audience looked happy at the end of the concert, and this made me question how we could spread this spirit of unity and solidarity. It was an experience beyond a concert, one that I cannot fully name.
Sedat Antay
Serdar Karabatı
