This article was originally published on jazzdergisi.com on August 18, 2017.
Bozcaada Jazz Festival took place for the first time between 28-30 July. It could have been blood, sweat and tears behind the festival that turned out to be a jazz vacation for us festival-goers but instead there was hard work, meticulous effort and thankfully laughter. This festival, which was organised by young people who are passionate about what they do, was a risk taken but it has reached its audience and was shared just like any heart-felt job.
Bozcaada Jazz Festival took place for the first time between 28-30 July. It could have been blood, sweat and tears behind the festival that turned out to be a jazz vacation for us festival-goers but instead there was hard work, meticulous effort and thankfully laughter. This festival, which was organised by young people who are passionate about what they do, was a risk taken but it has reached its audience and was shared just like any heart-felt job.
The festival took place in Ayazma Manastır on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with a program that included various styles of jazz. Most of the participants came from other cities and the peaceful atmosphere of being away from the city dominated the venue. I believe that in addition to listening to jazz, a getaway of three days was also attractive to many.
The audience laying down on grass after a day of sea and the sun, bodies surrendered to the rhythm of the music, musicians performing even more beautifully due to the magical nature of this rare atmosphere, crystal clear sound (I should salute Kerem Tüzün, who was the production manager) and the sweet breeze of Bozcaada summarise the festival pretty well.
On Sunday, before the program started, we had a quick chat with the promoters; Gizem Gezenoğlu from Pavli, Murat Sezgi from Kabak&Lin and Doğukan Çokşeker from Allturca Productions. To what extent were they able to realise their dreams? What kind of an experience was it for them? What are they planning?
They all seem satisfied with the result.
GİZEM GEZENOĞLU - The participation is good, feedback is great, both from the audience and the musicians. Therefore we are happy with the results. We are really excited due to the fact that we were able to make our dreams come true on our first year.
I wonder, whose dream was this and whose idea?
MURAT SEZGİ - It was actually a common dream. Doğukan and his company had this idea for a long time. We also have jazz festivals. Gizem is an old friend from the business. When Gizem joined the Pavli team, the idea of a festival started to form, everybody had similar visions. We wanted to make an outdoor event, just like a rock festival, but focused on our esteemed jazz musicians and this is the result.
DOĞUKAN ÇOKŞEKER - We didn’t actually have a solid plan, just an idea. We first realised we all share the same dream but we focused on the details after having been asked “What is different about you?” during a sponsorship meeting. A young spirit, open air, a different experience in Bozcaada that embodies jazz. The starting point wasn’t ‘let’s do this because it would sell’. We chased a dream, it attracted attention, it wouldn't necessarily do so. Maybe this is the reason behind this energy and people's satisfaction here.
ÖZLEM KÖSEOĞLU - Sincerity?
DÇ - Everyone is so incredibly sincere. We didn’t aim for something. We didn’t focus on to bring people here, we worked very meticulously but we were only following our dream, I think people can feel this sincerity.
Pavli Forest was the initial venue but the people who live on the island were concerned about the fire hazard and the damage the eco system of the area could suffer if this were to become a traditional event. This worry is caused by an event that happened 20 years ago when a projector fell over and caused a fire during a movie shooting, causing the animals living in the forest perish along with the trees. Finally they were able to reach a consensus, changed the venue and moved to Ayazma Manastır. I asked the promoters about this process.
Pavli Forest was the initial venue but the people who live on the island were concerned about the fire hazard and the damage the eco system of the area could suffer if this were to become a traditional event. This worry is caused by an event that happened 20 years ago when a projector fell over and caused a fire during a movie shooting, causing the animals living in the forest perish along with the trees. Finally they were able to reach a consensus, changed the venue and moved to Ayazma Manastır. I asked the promoters about this process.
GG - There were some concerns among the island folks. We tried to tell them about our side of things. We have been doing this for a long time, we planned everything and worked on the operational details but the only way to reach a consensus at that point was to change the venue, which we did.
DÇ - We took all the precautions, and even though we thought there was unnecessary sensitivity we were sensitive about their concerns. There was a common anxiety, imparted from generation to generation about the event that happened 20 years ago. It was still an open wound, we saw that and acted accordingly.
ÖK - My islander friend who I stayed at told me that there were concerns about the damage the habitat could suffer, what do you say to that?
GG - We do not believe that a music of this volume could hurt forest creatures. There probably was a misunderstanding. It is a big forest but part of it is used as a recreational area, and the festival was supposed to take place there. We tried to convey that. It was going to be in an area that people already had an access to.
MS - If you went there right now, you would see at least 4 people grilling stuff there.
DÇ - There is always a grilling fire there. We would have 24 hours surveillance there and use 20% of the area and surround it with fences.
MS - I think something else happened at this point. There was more than anticipated attention to the event on the social media. The festival gained 34.000 followers on Facebook, whereas others have 8-10.000. People may have thought something like Woodstock was to take place. This attention that got us so excited became a disadvantage at that point. There are some points that we thought were unfair but the peaceful atmosphere we reached at the end make us happy.
ÖK - You don’t seem to be experiencing a disadvantage by moving here.
DÇ - It is a pleasant venue and we tried to make it even more so. We mainly managed to do so but we had worked on the other venue for 6 months. We only had one for this one.
ÖK - Do you think you would receive this kind of feedback in Istanbul?
MS - There are so many events happening in Istanbul and the audience has a lot of options. I want to change the perception that this genre and these musicians belong to a certain class and city. I would prefer to organise the next event in Tekirdağ instead of organising the best event in the world in Istanbul.
GG - This was one of our starting points. Both the sector and us observed a need to move outside of the city centers. Population and businesses started to move out of the cities, becoming more easily accessed and shared, and this makes us happy.
ÖK - Another attractive element was to combine the festival with the idea of a vacation, was it not so?
DÇ - I converse a lot with the members of the audience. A lot of people came to Bozcaada for the first time for this event. Five out of ten people say this and they are very happy. They really like Bozcaada and this is a source of great happiness for us, all our efforts have seemed to reach their goals.
MS - You get into a rather weird mood one day after you arrive here. These relaxed people spend time here and music seeps into their souls. I see that even in myself.
GG - The fact that this event is taking place on an island increase the concentration on interaction here.
MS - Let me take that one step further. I haven’t spoken to the musicians yet but I am almost sure this concentration reflects on the stage as well.
DÇ - We were really stressed out about the venue change but it is easy to manage stress here because many of the hardships of the city don’t exist here. There is no traffic, there are no security concerns. Many of the things that pressure us in the city cause no problem here.
ÖK - What did this year teach you?
MS - This year we have learnt a lot about the line-up, timing and location. What we could do better as a team. We need more support to grow bigger. These kinds of events always receive a serious government support everywhere else in the world. I live in Berlin, look at the posters, about 99% of the events are supported by the government. Have we still achieved this without support? Yes. Would we be able to do even better if we had more support? We could really provide incredible experiences, we are young people willing to do more.
DÇ - We will put in the necessary applications. We have a whole year ahead of us. Government institutions, private firms, I believe we could receive much more support. This is a national event, what we need to do is to bring this to the global arena. We have 2 bands from Central Europe, even though this is only our first year. Our next step will be to bring more European and American artists next year and help the festival to receive international media attention this way, becoming an international jazz festival. To promote Bozcaada, Turkish jazz music and musicians and most importantly Turkey. This is our aim. We will make the necessary applications with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. I am hopeful for 2018. Our goal is to expand the event throughout the island. I am hopeful about the ministry, because local managements, both the district governorship and the municipality, support us immensely. They visited us, saw the venue. They are very happy, everybody was smiling. Their aim is to expand the organisation as well. Maybe some other smaller venues or simultaneous events. We will increase our capacity as we expand throughout the island, but there is this; the island already has its own capacity. We shouldn’t disturb the comfort level of the island. We shouldn’t distress the hotels, artisans and local managements. We will continue on with this level of control.
There were musicians from different generations in the program. Masters and aspiring young musicians shared the same stage. There were avant-garde, funk, fusion, latin, electronic, vocals, instrumentals. We've seen some serious performances. Of course, everyone can comment on the program but how appropriate is it to talk as an outsider? First of all, even though it is made with an amateur spirit, a festival program has to be made considering supply and demand equilibrium and inevitably reflects its creator's taste and experience. And if it holds some sort of a mission, it becomes even more delicious 😃 I think the real trick is to create a balance among these. I ask the promoters how they prepared the festival program.
MS - We wanted this festival to emphasize the jazz values of our country. We will not become a festival that pays 100X to foreign musicians whereas local ones only receive 1X. We wanted to plan the days separately. Each of us suggested bands and then we all gave our opinions about them. We already have similar tastes. Some of the musicians we had already worked with and even grew up with their music, so planning out this festival with them wasn’t hard.
DÇ - We really wanted to see the masters and representatives of the new generation together. We wanted there to be names at the top of their careers, those who represent us overseas, as well as those who were at the beginning of their career, those who we believe in and enjoy listening to. Everyone here makes different organisations and work different musicians.
Everybody have their own perception and experience, we combined these. We were really democratic; sometimes too democratic to the extend to tire each other. We worked meticulously, spared much time to this but the result was satisfying. This is how it is for us, I hope the same applies to the members of the audience and our efforts haven't gone down the drain.
Seeing how these two days went, yes, things are going well.
MS - When you organise concerts one by one, you have to sell tickets and fill out the capacity separately for all, but in organisations like these, you can include names you really enjoy, even those the listeners might not run to buy tickets for. This is a great dough you can play with.
GG - One of the things we enjoyed the most was playing with it. We didn’t want to create a headliner hierarchy.
MS - You have already seen on the posters. There are only dates and names. There are no bigger or smaller fonts or bolds.
You can see the festival program on bozcaadacazfestivali.com.
ÖK - May I have your final words?
MS - There are some very experienced people involved in this who have been by our side. This became something like a jazz fair. There are promoters from the business, venue owners, bookers. We had an idea this might happen but it is really moving to see this all in action.
GG - We started out wanting to have multiple venues. The events will expand throughout the island, maybe islands in the upcoming years, but we won’t stay in a single venue. Maybe increase the number of the days, the concerts, morning activities… This is what we aim for. Let people be in a constant state of excursion and discovery, let them be involved.
Maybe they will turn this into a jazz vacation that includes travel and accommodation plans in the future, similar to many other examples worldwide. They say that they might think more on this. It would be a big operation but it would be a great idea if they receive the support they hope for.
DÇ - I am happy with the results. I think we got enough exposition. Now it is our jobs to manage this. We did something crazy, I always encourage people to do crazy things, increase the number of initiatives but with the same sincerity. I am not talking about imitating this just to get financial results. Everyone should work meticulously without losing energy and hope. There are times when we feel like we're not going through a bright period as a sector, but we organised this event despite that. We didn’t have any financial aims, we pursued arts and our dreams, and now we have an outcome as a result of this. Now we will strengthen it, that is where we stand. Sincere initiatives should increase, government institutions and private firms should support such events. Some should take these risks, nobody gets anywhere by simply sitting and waiting. Taking a risk, doing something and then standing behind it and growing.
ÖK – So you are saying that you filmed the pilot. 😃
DÇ – Yes, you can’t sell 13 episodes without filming the pilot first.
One last word from me. I will then let some of the musicians, journalists and friends from the business speak for themselves.
The excitement of these young people I spoke to, their amateur spirit along with their professional approach are moving. The result also is as the first of its kind. My wish is for them to keep on going with the help of the experience they have gained this year, while keeping their mission and sincerity intact, for the festival to get bigger and permanent. I think that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would want to support this festival, keeping in mind its contributions to the island's tourism revenues and the possibilities of promoting Turkey through culture. Am I being too romantic?
Good job ladies and gentlemen. Those who are in sight, and those who were in behind the scenes. 😃
ZUHAL FOCAN – JAZZ MAGAZINE, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Bozcaada Jazz Festival is the open air festival we have been waiting for. Many of the European festivals I have researched started out in places like Bozcaada. Pori, Marciac, Umbria Jazz Festivals are the first ones I can think of. Bozcaada has been really successful despite the fact that it was their first year. Everything from musician choices to stage and sound arrangements were cleverly organized. The only thing I disliked as an editor was the logo and color choice in the poster.
Yellow and white damper the visual comprehension. I would have hoped for a more colorful logo. I am excitedly waiting for the second year.
ERAY AYTİMUR – MÜZİK GAZETECİSİ
I was really excited when I heard Bozcaada Jazz Festival was being organised because I thought that an organic venue like Bozcaada and jazz would go so well together. However, we heard that there was a resistance against the festival organisation as the process went on. Following my article in Hürriyet newspaper that was a short article which was focused on the musical aspects of the festival, the feedback I received showed that this resistance was fed from the grudge and hatred that surrounds Turkey in general, and was not specific to the festival.
Anyway, I was greeted with a warm atmosphere as soon as I stepped into the festival venue as the festival’s designated writer. The musicians who came together in a place like Bozcaada were happy. The audience was happy. Excuse me saying but the local shops were happy. The organisation team is not new at this, they have been doing what they do internationally for years, so they were able to go on without making us notice any hitches. The team was always smiling and helpful, and it was evident that they were having fun while working. The sound was almost perfect, experienced Kerem Tüzün took that part upon himself and let us hear the music we like in a compact way, despite the size of the venue. I cannot speak for the specifics of the line-ups, since As played this year, next year it will be Bs, what matters is for the festival to persevere. I will open a parenthesis for the MÖE concert, as someone who spent her youth in the 90s Beyoğlu, I went back to my Peyote days in İmam Adnan Street, to our pogo séances in Captain Hook and to my underground trips at Kemancı Alt Kat. They played incredibly.
Pavli is a really cute venue, but the fact that it was far away from the festival area prevented some really great DJ sets from reaching bigger audiences. It would have been a more interesting experience to listen to them throughout the day at Ayazma Manastır. I participated in Volkan Öktem’s drum seminar and spent a good time with the question and answers. Maybe the same could be done for the other instruments. They need to work more on their expression, if not on announcing the festival itself. It was a five star organisation when all things are concerned. May there be many more.
VOLKAN HÜRSEVER – MUSICIAN
Many thanks to everyone who has worked on this first edition of Bozcaada Jazz Festival. The young and dynamic team worked perfectly when transportation, accommodation, stage and sound systems are concerned. The bands I have listened to during the festival played incredibly well and the crowd listened to our music until late and didn’t leave us alone. As long as there are brave and hard-working people like these, Turkish jazz will persevere. I wish for the continuation of this event.
ŞENTÜRK ÖZTAŞ – MUSICIAN
There was an endless sea view and people spread on the grass when I stepped on the stage. It was an incredible joy to come together with musicians and music lovers in such a romantic atmosphere. The story of this festival apparently goes way back, I learnt about this later. It is a dream that matured in 5 years. When such compromising and brilliant people come together, it was inevitable for the arts and creativity to shine through in every aspect of the festival. 1st Bozcaada Jazz Festival was perfect, I congratulate the whole team and wish them the best.
ŞENOVA ÜLKER – MUSICIAN
Bozcaada and jazz people created miracles in this amazing setting. This festival, which was created from scratch, is a great gain for jazz and these incredible jazz musicians. I congratulate the organisation and Bozcaada teams from the bottom of my heart. They calmed our souls and freshened out breaths.
KORHAN FUTACI – MUSICIAN
I think Bozcaada Jazz Festival is about good wine and food, vineyards, wine houses, roads that can fit only one car, wind and sea coming together with good music. It was a great pleasure to perform during the first year of this festival and to spend time in its magical atmosphere. Our friends who organised the festival didn’t have a hard time convincing us to stay for an extra night to participate in the closing party. I believe that the jam session that took place at Pavli should become a festival tradition. Thanks to all those who put in their efforts!
ELİF ÇAĞLAR – MÜZİSYEN
It was a great and hopeful experience from its start to the end. I think it is very important that this took place in open air, in a special island like Bozcaada with a rich history and nature, as well as the fact that it took place through an independent initiative in such a meticulous way. This kind of initiatives should be supported, continue and increase in number.
We should support one another and create new excitements together despite the fact that we have limited mobility. We saw a good example of this in Bozcaada. It gave us hope. Thanks.😊
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