"Jazz Is a Whole Different Story!" — Jazz Excitement in Istanbul

Under the sponsorship of Garanti BBVA, the Istanbul Jazz Festival, held for the 26th time this year, opens with a grand awards ceremony where Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to Ömür Göksel, one of Turkey's most important jazz vocalists, and master jazz drummer Hasan Hürsever. Organized by the Istanbul Culture and Arts Foundation under the sponsorship of Garanti BBVA, the Istanbul Jazz Festival, held for the 26th time this year, will offer music lovers delightful moments between 29 June and 18 July. An indispensable fixture of the summer months, the festival brings together jazz enthusiasts with over 300 domestic and foreign artists and more than 50 concerts across 27 different venues. Contrabassist and composer Michael League's Grammy Award-winning group Snarky Puppy, composer and vocalist José James, whose characteristic music weaves around jazz, R&B and hip-hop elements, two-time Grammy winner Jacob Collier, and Kamasi Washington, a saxophonist, composer, producer and group leader who skillfully blends hip-hop and R&B sounds with jazz, stand out among this year's festival guests, as does Joss Stone, whose passionate vocals and curiosity to explore different musical genres make her one of the world's most free-spirited artists. The festival, which will be colored with enchanting jazz sounds, will also feature Belgian jazz singer, lyricist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Melanie de Biasio, world-renowned pianist and composer Aydın Esen with his groundbreaking works that defy categorization, and Alfredo Rodríguez & Pedrito Martinez spanning from Cuban classics to original compositions among the important names taking the stage. Together with all these master musicians, we also have the opportunity to meet Cyrille Aimie, who is compared to Ella Fitzgerald for her lyrical as well as playful style and finalist of the Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition, at the 26th Istanbul Jazz Festival.