Salon IKSV, one of our favorite stops between the neighborhoods of Galata and Şişhane, continues to bring delightful performances to their stage. Last Thursday night, I found myself sitting on their balcony and enjoying Incesaz’s smooth and cheerful melodies.
Incesaz describe their sound as “music of Istanbul”. For me, they also make music for the different generations of Istanbul. I understand this both from the variety in ages at their performances and via road-trips with my parents. They might not be making music that I’d immediately define as “my type”, but they still manage to get me every time I find the chance to listen to them. It’s true, I can’t help but consider their sound as “music of Istanbul”. In short, that’s why I find myself liking Incesaz.
What’s more, Incesaz might be older than you think! Their story actually begins in 1996 when Murat Aydemir, Derya Türkan and Cengiz Onural came together to play compositions written by Aydemir and re-interpret songs from traditional Turkish music repertoires. They composed songs for films and hit-TV series of the early 2000s (such as Ikinci Bahar and Ekmek Teknesi). Yet, unfortunately for me, it took nearly a decade to discover Incesaz and their touching music. Last Thursday at Salon IKSV, I finally had the chance to listen to them on stage. It was a refreshing, peaceful and beautiful show. I can’t help but be attracted by the naive and gentle lyrics of old-fashioned love songs, I have to admit. This smooth vintage vibe totally surrounded everyone, prompting the band to joke about how calm the audience was and to ask for a bit of cheering following their compositions. Needless to say, the audience was lost in their charm. We listened to Murat Aydemir on tanbur, Taner Sayacıoğlu on zither, Akın Aral on bass, Volkan Hürsever on contrabass, Türker Çolak on percussion, Cengiz Onural on guitar, and Ezgi Köker with Bora Ebeoğlu on vocals.
Incesaz has also worked with powerful musicians such as Cengiz Özkan, Sezen Aksu, Zuhal Olcay and Leman Sam (among many others). They have played along with the Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and Eskişehir State Symphony Orchestras. If you haven’t listened to them yet, I highly recommend you give them a chance. They bring classical Turkish sounds and modern Istanbul rhythms together. This popularity and talent earned them back-to-back shows on both the 14th and 15th.
Salon IKSV has so much to offer before January ends. Make sure that you take a look at some of their upcoming events this month: Manu de Lago on the 20th, Marc Ribot (Solo) on the 27th and Com Truise on the 30th.
