The Young Jazz + 23, the third album of the Young Jazz + project, which was launched by the Istanbul Jazz Festival in 2021 and features young musicians making music in jazz, funk, R&B, neo-soul, electronic music, hip-hop or cross-genre music, will be released on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube Music, Fizy and Muud on 21 November 2023. The album features 6 ensembles consisting of young musicians under the age of 30, each with their original works. With the Young Jazz+ project, talented and promising new musicians are given the opportunity to step into the music industry and to make their voices heard in the world.
The ensembles in the Young Jazz+ 23 album worked together with experienced and skilled musicians. Volkan Öktem, Korhan Futacı, Okan Kaya, Önder Focan, Ayşe Tütüncü and Selen Gülün shared their musical experiences with the young artists during the recording process of their tracks as producers. With the contribution of the musicians accompanying the ensembles during the recordings at Hayyam Studios, a free and dynamic album that balances the daring dynamism of youth with the wisdom of experience has emerged, which makes the album unique in our country in this sense.
Produced by the Istanbul Jazz Festival, organised by İKSV with the sponsorship of Garanti BBVA and the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, the Young Jazz+ 23 album is published with the support of İKSV Young Artist Fund and Mehmet Uluğ Fund and in collaboration with Sony Music.
A good start
The Young Jazz+ 23 is an album where excitement and passion are at the forefront. As a matter of fact, each of the music groups has the passion of youth to transform and make a difference. The three words of Eggmann Quartet to describe themselves are "friendship, dedication and passion", BÜMK Orkestra's hours of rehearsals in a routine, Keskin Band's approach to making music as a social responsibility, all of which are reflected in the album. Taking part in an album at the festival, recording their own compositions and working with musicians they follow also reinforce this excitement and passion. On the other hand, the shared experience and touch of the music professionals accompanying the groups stand out as a balancing factor for a more grounded album. Therefore, the album is a "good start" for the young artists at the very beginning of their musical journey to become the best versions of themselves.
A dynamic, free-spirited and brave album that moves between genres
The young musicians adopt an innovative and liberating approach inspired by different genres. Each musician moves fearlessly between genres that will nourish both their own and their ensemble's collective production. In line with the structure of the Istanbul Jazz Festival, the album Genç Caz+ 23 emphasizes the liberating, innovative and inclusive aspects of jazz. Young Jazz+ musicians, whose works are included in the album, draw inspiration from different genres such as rock, rock fusion, alternative rock, funk, pop, neo-soul as well as jazz. They interpret these genres in jazz patterns and create new forms. Projektiles' chaotic rock fusion composition "Şeytan Pazarı", which has the feel of a marching band song that would also be welcomed by any football fans, and Esra Gürçay Quartet feat. Peter Shalamov's jazz standard, neo soul, classical music influenced composition "For Next Season" come side by side on the same album. In Zonda 4's jazz fusion composition "Time Invariant", which mainly features Latin melodies, piano and saxophone pass each other and complete the feeling of "as if we are all going somewhere together". In this way, the Young Jazz+ 23 is a free, dynamic and courageous album that blends jazz with rock on the one hand and moves between genres on the other, in line with the project's purpose.
The product of collective work
The album is born out of a democratic teamwork where differences come together. The fact that the young musicians work in harmony and creative conflicts both among themselves and with the producers accompanying them makes the album multifaceted. Just like the universality of music, the fact that jazz is a democratic music requiring teamwork is tangible and internalized by the performers. The harmony born from the unity of the groups with different musical backgrounds, pasts, characters and even cultures is reflected in their compositions. Each of the compositions on the album is the product of collaborative work and what makes each group's music special is that they make it themselves. BÜMK Orkestra's composition "Did I Fall?", which they worked on for three months, wanders in the waters of pop, funk and fusion, has the contribution of each band member. As in the story of the emergence of Keskin Band's alternative rock composition "Gökyüzü", which also has blues influences, if one person lights the spark, the others come to feed the fire. Thus, the harmony of diversity that emerges with the music and the team spirit that knows how to shine by taking care of each other and shine itself, come together and turn the album into a chart where various colours are lined up in harmony with each other.
By Seren Erciyas
