Swedish-Turkish saxophonist and composer Ilhan Ersahin has had New York City’s underground scene as his base for a couple of decades. From his own club and record label Nublu, he has spread his music all over the world.
You can see Ilhan Ersahin jamming with The Red Hot Chili Peppers in Sao Paolo, or with Bugge Wesseltoft at Blue Note Tokyo or playing an oriental set with Turkish Roma in an elegant concert hall somewhere in Europe.
Since 2008, Ilhan Ersahin’s own band Istanbul Sessions has set the stage on stages all over the world: from New York to Istanbul, from Paris to Sao Paolo, from London to Skopje. The band’s electrifying, genre-crossing concerts raise questions: is it a jazz – or rock band?
Ersahin and Istanbul Sessions stay true to their Turkish influences, but weave them into an inventive mix of rock, jazz and dance groove. Master-level musicianship where the cliché “east-meets-west” finds its true expression. On the debut album Istanbul Sessions from 2009, Fasching-acquainted trumpeter Erik Truffaz guested. For Fasching, Ilhan Ersahin and Istanbul Sessions now invite Goran Kajfeš, one of Swedish jazz’s most prominent trumpeters and bandleaders.
Ilhan Ersahin – saxophone
Alp Ersonmez – bass
Turgut Bekoglu – drums
Izzet Kızıl – darbuka/percussion
Goran Kajfeš – trumpet
