Cansu Nihal Akarsu & Erdem Özkan Band “When Billy Met Sassy”

Önder Focan started music by playing mandolin at the age of 8. He switched to guitar at 15 and concentrated on jazz in 1975. Being mainly self- toutht, he has become a jazz musician most sought after as a guitarist, player, composer arranger and lyrics writer. In 1986, he got married to Zuhal Focan withn whom founded Nardis Jazz Club in 2002. Focan improved his skills in music and teaching by attending seminars by IAJE (International Association for Jazz Musicians). From 1996 to 1999, he conducted Jazz Ensemble courses at the Istanbul Academy. In 1997, he performed in the Guitar Night that was organized by MIDEM (Marché International du Disque et de l’Edition Musicale) with 11 international guitarists representing Istanbul Culture and Arts Fund (IKSV). Between the years of 2001 and 2005, he tOctht harmony classes at Mujdat Gezen Art Centre where he was elected as the best artist in Western Music in 2000. At Yildiz Technical University, he lectured “Jazz Styles in Analysis” in 2003-2004 and also “Jazz Guitar” in 2006-2007. Since 2002, he has been the art director of Nardis Jazz Club, where he organizes concerts for more than 315 musicians and accompanies them on stage every year. Some of these musicians are Benny Golson, Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Al Foster, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Haynes, Tierney Sutton, Kenny Drew Jr, Roseanne Vitro, Christian Mc Bride, Roy Hargrove, Ron Carter and majority of top local musicians. Always valuing and recognizing social responsibility projects, Focan has directed and the coordinated IPMN (Istanbul – Pori Music Networking). This project supported jazz education, enabling young musicians to have experience on stage in both cities, Istanbul and Pori. He has released 17 CD’s. In 1998, featuring the great drummer Bill Stewart and Hammond B3 player Sam Yahel, his album “Beneath The Stars” honored him as the first Turkish Jazz musician to have released an album on Blue Note label.

KAPIKO is a powerful fusion and progressive ethno/world jazz lineup centered around the kaval – a traditional flute of Anatolia and the Balkans. KAPIKO’s latest album “Nova”, a milestone of Turkish fusion and ethno/world jazz, has been listed among the best Turkish jazz albums of 2022 by “Cazkolik” magazine writers. A wide array of traditional and progressive improvisational concepts, the mesmerizing sound of Turkish kaval virtuoso Batuhan Aydın’s soulful kaval playing, energetic stage performances and driving rhythms make the music of KAPIKO a unique experience.

Born in 1993, Fulya Akça took her first steps in music by taking flute lessons at 12. She started to get interested in Jazz at university and attended jazz vocal workshops of Elif Çağlar and Sibel Köse. She selected as a finalist in 9th Nardis Young Jazz Vocalist Competition, where she won NTV Special Microphone Award and the prize of performing at prestigious 19. İstanbul Jazz Festival. She joined European Jazz School Project and had the opportunity to practice and sing a duo with Fatih Erkoç in Bursa. She was invited to the same project in Germany, Italy, Poland where she practiced with many musicians and took place at the concerts. In 2014 she studied in Szeged through Erasmus Exchange Programme for 6 months. In June 2015, she graduated with a degree in music education department at Uludağ University. In May 2017 she won IKSV Young Jazz Competition and had the opportunity to perform at 24. İstanbul Jazz Festival. Fulya Akça who completed a masters degree in Musicology at İTÜ is still continuing her music performances. Tonight she will sing a repertoire of popular jazz standards.

Adem Gülşen began his musical journey with classical piano, later continuing with modern music and jazz, showcasing his talent with influences of contemporary jazz, and electronic music in his sound. A significant turning point and source of inspiration in his musical approach was Aydın Esen, from whom he received training in modern harmony and improvisation. Inspired by Esen, improvisation and modern touches have become essential elements of his music. With over fifteen years of experience, he has contributed to nume-rous projects and albums, and he continues to do so as a composer and arranger.

Kaan Bıyıkoğlu got interested with jazz while studying at the Ankara Science High School, and during his bachelor’s and Kaan master’s studies at Middle East Technical University he studied piano with Prof. Semra Kartal besides sharing the stages with eminent Turkish jazz musicians such as Tuna Ötenel, Yıldız İbrahimova, Yahya Dai and Kürşat And. He finished his master’s studies at the METU Informatics Institute with his thesis entitled “A Markov Model For Chorale Harmonization in the Style of J.S. Bach”. At the samre time he did his master’s on classical piano performance at Başkent University Ankara State Conservatory where he studied with Mehmet Okonşar. Kaan moved to the Netherlands in 2006 to further his jazz education, and he studied jazz piano and harmony with Kris Goessens and Rob van Bavel, and composition and orchestration with Ilja Reijngoud at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. He attended to the master classes and workshops given by Barry Harris, Charlie Haden, Peter Erskine, Jason Moran, Miguel Zenon, Antonio Farao, Baptiste Trotignon, Luis Perdomo, Dado Morani, and Misha Alperin. He participated in numerous festivals, concerts, radio and television broadcasts, and album recordings in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Kaan Bıyıkoğlu returned back to Turkey in 2013 and currently he is teaching piano and harmony at the Jazz Department of Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory.

“Yürüyen Merdiven” is the story of twenty years of friendship and the journey of its music. The first thing that comes to mind is a mechanical escalator; A two-legged, loving, running, dancing, breathing escalator. The melodic approach of the drums and the percussive characters of the piano are intertwined; An Escalator who is eager to take everyone he meets on his journey with him, with a balanced, lively and mischievous identity. In this concert, Yürüyen Merdiven will be accompanied by Duygu Argın on vocals Duygu Argin attended singing and theory classes at Pera Güzel Sanatlar and Akademi Istanbul. After 5 years of classical opera singing education she moved to the UK and began her professional music career after shifting her focus to jazz. She has been performing mostly jazz standards from American Songbook with Neşet Ruacan for over 15 years and has studied jazz singing techniques with Sibel Köse, Elif Çağlar and Randy Esen. She is currently a student at Bahçeşehir University Jazz Studies Master’s Program. In her professional jazz career, she has performed with many musicians including Neşet Ruacan, Deniz Dündar, Ferit Odman, Şenova Ülker, İmer Demirer, Alper Yılmaz, Ercüment Orkut, Ozan Musluoğlu, Matt Hall as well as the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra. She regularly appears at Istanbul jazz clubs and and ven-ues.