May 2, 2013: Mark Alban Lotz & Islak Köpek at Gitar Cafe

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Korhan Erel

Mark Lotz & Islak KöpekMark Alban Lotz is an Utrecht-based flute player and improviser who is also quite well known in Turkey as a jazz player and improviser. He had come to Istanbul in 2010 to make two recordings with Istanbul-based improvisers. One of these recordings was with Islak Köpek, Turkey’s first free improvisation ensemble founded in 2005. This record, “Istanbul Improv Sessions May 4th”, was released on Evil Rabbit Records in 2011. Islak Köpek and Mark played a concert at Borusan Müzik Evi in Istanbul soon after the release of the album. Islak Köpek’s founder Korhan Erel and Mark have also started a duo after this collaboration, which resulted in concerts in Turkey and the Netherlands with guests like Wolter Wierbos, Eric Boeren and Robert van Heumen.

Mark Alban Lotz returns to Istanbul once more to reunite with Islak Köpek. They will play a concert at Gitar Cafe on May 2nd. The concert will start at 9pm.

Mark Alban Lotz: flutes
Şevket Akıncı: acoustic guitar
Korhan Erel: computer, controllers
Gülşah Erol: cello
Giray Gürkal: electric guitar, effects
Robert Reigle: tenor saxophone
Volkan Terzioğlu: tenor saxophone

The Consulate General of the Kingdom of Netherlands in IstanbulWe’d like to extend our thanks to the Kingdom of Netherlands Consulate in Istanbul for supporting this musical and cultural exchange between Mark Alban Lotz and improvisers in Istanbul.

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Space Oddity (version for piano & electronics by Toros Can & Korhan Erel)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Korhan Erel

Contemporary pianist Toros Can and I had worked on a reinterpretation of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” for piano and electronics, which was performed by Toros at Borusan Müzik Evi in his duo concert with pianist Kai Schumacher in 2012. Kai recently played this piece in Essen, Germany. This is the video of that performance.

Live recording @ UNESCO-Welterbe Zeche Zollverein, Essen (04.04.2013)

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A Midspring Night’s Improvisation

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Korhan Erel
Mural in Istanbul, reinterpreted by İlknur Ayışık

Mural in Istanbul, reinterpreted by İlknur Ayışık

Mark Alban Lotz, Utrecht-based flute player and improviser, who is also the other half of the Lotz/Erel duo, will be in Istanbul from April 26th through May 5th, and play a series of concerts with me and other musicians. The first of these performances is “A Midspring Night’s Improvisation” at Gitar Cafe on April 26th. The concert will feature three great musicians from Portugal: Paulo Chagas, Paulo Duarte and Fernande Simões.

Çağlayan Yıldız (guitar and electronics)
Fernando Simões (trombone)
Korhan Erel (computer and controllers)
Mark Alban Lotz (flutes)
Paulo Chagas (flute and saxophone)
Paulo Duarte (electric guitar)
Sumru Ağıryürüyen (voice)

Gitar Cafe (directions)
April 26, 2013 – 09:00pm
Cover: 15 TL

The Consulate General of the Kingdom of Netherlands in IstanbulThis concert is made possible by the generous contribution of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Istanbul.

 

Directions:

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“Disorient and Accident” by Korhan Erel at MAK Nite Lab

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Korhan Erel

MAK NITE Lab
16 April 2013
KORHAN EREL (Istanbul/TK)
Disorient and Accident
Live-Concert
Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art

Photo © MAK/Katrin Wisskirchen

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Solo Concert “Disorient and Accident” at MAK Nite Lab, Vienna, April 16, 2013

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Korhan Erel
Photo by Eylem Erdinç

Photo by Eylem Erdinç

Korhan Erel will play a solo concert at the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art in Vienna on April 16, 2013. The concert is a part of the MAK Nite performance series curated by Marlies Wirth and is a part of the “Signs Taken in Wonder – Searching for Contemporary Istanbul” exhibition (Jan 23rd through Apr 21st, 2013). The exhibition surveys the work of 33 international contemporary artists, born between the 1920s and the 1980s, whose art engages with aspects of Istanbul’s culture, history, and daily life. This will be Korhan’s second performance at MAK Nite, the first being “Malice in Sonderland“, a collaborative audiovisual performance with Vienna-based video artist Alexandra Reill in January 2010.

The concert starts at 8pm and will have the following program:

– Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra (Alvin Lucier) – reinterpretation with computer, triangle samples and live processing

– Improvisation #1

– Mahrec – a structured improvisation/composition based on recordings made in Hraç Arslanyan’s jewellery design workshop Mahrec in Istanbul’s old town. Recordings are from actual design work by Gözde Erdoğan and Kıymet Daştan.

– Improvisation #2

– Class Struggle – a piece based on sounds of water entrapped between a hotplate and a teapot.

– Stück für Glockenspiel, Klavier, Streicherensemble, Rechner und Jodlerkönig. Features a sample from the Franzl Lang song “Einen Jodler hör i gern”

Korhan Erel will be in Vienna between April 11-18. Please contact him here if you’d like to set up a meeting.

Facebook event for the concert

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Chen, Ağıryürüyen, Akıncı, Gürkal, Erel at Cafe Mitanni, April 5, 2013

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Korhan Erel

Audrey ChenKorhan Erel will play with American-Chinese cello, voice and electronics artist Audrey Chen and his improviser friends at Cafe Mitanni, a small, cosy jazz venue on one of the bustling streets of Beyoğlu, Istanbul’s perpetually packed headquarters of entertainment, food, night life district. The concert will start at 10pm with a brief solo performance by Audrey Chen, followed by a set of improvisations by Chen and the other musicians.

Şevket Akıncı and Korhan are founders of Islak Köpek, Turkey’s longest-standing free improvisation ensemble, which is considered to have paved the way for many other musicians to boldly perform freely improvised and experimental music in Istanbul. Sumru Ağıryürüyen and Korhan have been improvising together on and off for the past 3-4 years and have recently started the trio Bakış Açısı (Point of View) with Islak Köpek’s other guitarist, Giray Gürkal. Giray plays with Şevket in Mutant, a guitar septet. Sumru, Korhan and Şevket are also members of Nazım’a Doğru (Towards Nazım), an all-star ensemble that interprets the poetry of the great poet Nazım Hikmet with elements of free improvisation, new music, folk music and many more styles.

Çağlayan Yıldız, who was in the original line-up for this concert, will not be able to attend.

Both Chen and Islak Köpek have released albums on Evil Rabbit Records.

Audrey Chen (cello, voice, analog electronics)
Sumru Ağıryürüyen (voice)
Şevket Akıncı (guitars)
Giray Gürkal (electric guitar, effects)
Korhan Erel (computer, controllers)

April 5, 2013, 10:00pm
Cafe Mitanni
Çukurluçeşme Sokak 6/A
Beyoğlu, Istanbul

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Korhan Erel, Gülşah Erol, Gunnar Lettow @ Quiet Cue, Berlin, 10.11.12

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Korhan Erel

https://vimeo.com/62563646

The last concert of my Germany tour with Gülşah Erol was a performance at Berlin’s progressive music space Quiet Cue on November 10, 2012. Even though Gülşah and I were exhausted after 9 concerts in 10 days in 10 cities, this concert turned out to be one of the high points of the tour, with the wonderful contribution by Gunnar Lettow, my long-time duo partner.

Korhan Erel – computer, controllers
Gülsah Erol – cello
Gunnar Lettow – electric bass, objects, electronics

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Tolga Tüzün & Korhan Erel @ Dunia, March 26

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Korhan Erel

Superimposed CircumstancesI will be playing a duo with Tolga Tüzün in the fourth leg of Tolga’s monthly concert series called “Encounters”. The encounter will take place at Dunia in Kadıköy, Istanbul and will start at 9pm.

Tolga Tüzün, piano
Korhan Erel, computer and controllers

 

Tolga Tüzün is a composer of new music, a pianist and a computer musician. An IRCAM fellow, he is currently the head of the music department at Bilgi University. See http://www.tolgatuzun.com for more info.

Tolga and I have recorded and released an album titled Superimposed Circumstances. This album is an electronic release on Tolga’s own label Another World. The album can be previewed and purchased on all digital distribution channels.

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March 23: Başak Yavuz Quintet at 60m2

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Korhan Erel
Basak Yavuz

Başak Yavuz

I have recently joined jazz vocalist/composer Başak Yavuz’s jazz group, turning it into a quintet. Başak’s music, to me, has a feeling of tranquility as well as openness towards experimentation. I was listening to the band one night at Gitar Cafe and was imagining myself on stage with them. After the concert, Başak, knowing me and my music, asked me to join the band!

The concert on March 23rd at 60m2, a small, cosy, yet important jazz clubs in Istanbul, will be my first time playing with Başak and her team of wonderful musicians. I will probably not be featured on all songs. It will be great. Stop by if you’re in Istanbul.

Başak Yavuz Quintet:

Başak Yavuz (vocal and various small instruments)
Korhan Erel(computer)
Adem Gülşen(keyboard)
Alper Yılmaz(electric bass)
Erdem Göymen (drums)

Music starts at 9pm.

60m2
İstiklal Cd. Mis Sk. Tan Ap. No:4/2 Beyoğlu, Istanbul

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Natalia Mann, İzzet Kızıl, Alper Yılmaz, Korhan Erel at Alt

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Korhan Erel

OZL_6133I will be playing a concert of improvised music with Natalia Mann (harp), İzzet Kızıl (percussion) and Alper Yılmaz (electric bass) at Alt, one of Istanbul’s new jazz clubs. The first half of the concert will feature Pasif.ist, Natalia and Izzet’s duo. Alper and I will join them for a set of free improvisation in the second half. The concert is on March 12 and will start at 9.30pm. Alt’s website is horribly out-of-date so please refer to their Facebook page for current information.

 

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