Experience THE SOUNDS AND COLORS OF TURKEY 6/27 In Central Park

ISTANBULIVE THE SOUNDS AND COLORS OF TURKEY plays Saturday, June 27 - Free Admission
2:00pm to 7:00pm in Central Park: A Celebration of Turkish Music and Culture featuring
MAZHAR FUAT ÖZKAN (MFÖ)- Legendary Turkish Folk Rock, PAINTED ON WATER featuring SERTAB ERENER + DEMIR DEMIRKAN, Emerging International Pop Stars, HÜSNÜ SENLENDIRICI + VASSILIS SALEAS with NY GYPSY ALL-STARS Intricate Mediterranean Gypsy Music, Emre Yilmaz and BROOKLYN FUNK ESSENTIALS Raucous World Beat Funk Jams as Part of The 2009 SummerStage Music Festival. 

Presented in Association with The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Serdar Ilhan
www.istanbulive.org
Istanbulive: The Sounds & Colors of Turkey at SummerStage will bring together for the first time one of the largest-ever assemblies of musicians from Turkey on an American stage-five unprecedented hours of the most diverse and important music the nation has to offer. Concertgoers will also have the opportunity to sample vibrant Turkish culture and authentic Turkish food, as well as learn more about information on Turkey as a tourist destination.
PERFORMERS / PERSONNEL:
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.
*** Any inquiries regarding Painted on Water should be directed to Patti Conte (Plan A Media) at patticonte@nyc.rr.com or 212-337-1406 x 16 ***

Hüsnü Senlendirici is one of the most virtuosic clarinetist in southeastern Europe. Senlendirici-who has collaborated with 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. Says the prolific New York trumpeter and bandleader Frank London, "In Turkey, the clarinet is their saxophone and Hüsnü is Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis and Maceo Parker all rolled into one. He is constantly pushing the envelope in any musical setting, raising the bar whether playing pop, improvisation, progressive folk or dance music."
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.

PRODUCERS:

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. Ilhan's impressive résumé includes 15 years of bookings at such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and running several live music venues, including Drom. Dede runs an event and management company, and has an extensive background in music marketing and promotion. The pair has also successfully presented the New York Gypsy Festival since 2005. The premier event spotlighting Eastern European and Balkan music, the festival has brought to the American masses such now-popular artists as Balkan Beat Box, Ivo Poposov, Gogol Bordello and Kolpakov Trio.

 

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