Jazzing It Up

This morning three Jazz musicians, Ediz Hafizoglu Trio, from the Istanbul Akbank Jazz festival came to school and gave a 75 minute seminar to some of our music students. In between the songs they talked about style and the mechanics of 'making it into jazz', including how to embellish the melody by adding extra notes and how manipulating the rhythm can turn a song from trad jazz to swing to funk or even samba! Their almost last performance was 'Lullaby of Birdland' with one of our 11th grade students singing vocals.

A City In The State of Jazz

A city that night and day, keeps up the beat
each neighborhood its own tune
each street its own rhythm
and which can’t stand silence
Istanbul makes its own music,
A sound no one can resist.
It’s a city where harmony riffs with chaos
where life finds order in disorder
a city where every moment is improvised anew
a city like no other, of point and counterpoint
We believe Istanbul and jazz music are a perfect match,
and we take pride in helping them come together for 23 years,
and each time embraced by the city with great excitement.
- Akbank Jazz Festival