| Art Profile |
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İlhan Erşahin was born in Sweden in 1965 and raised in Turkey. When he was sixteen years old, Erşahin began playing saxophone. Since then he has worked in bands lead by Lawrence “Butch” Morris, drummer Victor Lewis, and trumpeter Wallace Roney, among others. As both a saxophonist and composer, İlhan Erşahin has grown into one of the most creative and adventurous music artists on the contemporary improvising scene since moving to New York from Istanbul. He owns the New York jazz club “Nublu” and his own record label under the same name. Nublu is an unmarked live music venue which became the locus of a downtown music scene; part jazz, part world, part rare groove.
While he is influenced primarily by American post-boppers, Erşahin has also absorbed the essentials of reggae, hip-hop, and pop in addition to Middle Eastern folk music. The profound impact of these diverse influences is clearly evident in his musical expressions. Unlike many other instrumentalists of his generation, Erşahin is writing for a trio of sax, bass and drums-one of the most challenging instrumental formats in jazz-while also putting out some very strong hip-hop charts as well as leading a killer post modern jazz quintet. Erşahin’s "Wonderland", recorded in Istanbul and New York comes forward as the vigilant reflection and expression of ties with Istanbul and his interest in Turkish music. A magical togetherness is evoked through the collaboration of musicians from Turkey and New York. “Wonderland” traveled through Turkey and Europe for Berlin Jazz Festival, Cologne Stadtgarten and Kopenhagen Bimhuis.
Erşahin’s New York based trio has been the main attraction of the brunch held every Saturday at the popular jazz club, Sweet Basil. He has also directed Istanbul’s Akbank Jazz Festival jam session for three consecutive years, where he’s triumphantly traded riffs with such celebrated soloists as Sam Rivers, James Carter, Craig Harris, John Zorn and Jerome Harris. And leading his trio and quintet, Erşahin has toured throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the United States. Erşahin currently lives in New York.
His works:
İlhan Erşahin Quintet, Our Song (Golden Horn 1997) originally released as “She Said” (Doublemoon 1995)
İlhan Erşahin Trio, Home (Doublemoon/Golden Horn 1997)
Wax Poetic, Wax Poetic (Doublemoon 1998) (Atlantic 1999)
İlhan Erşahin Quartet, Virgo (Doublemoon 2000)
Nublu, Temple Of Soul Sessions Vol 1&2 (Nublu Records 2002) (Numoon 2002)
Love Trio, Love Trio (Nublu Records 2002) (Numoon 2002)
İlhan Erşahin, Wonderland (Nublu Records 2002) (Doublemoon 2002)
Wax Poetic, Nublu Sessions (Ultra Records 2003)
İlhan Erşahin, Our Theory feat. Erik Truffaz (Nublu Records 2005)
Love Trio, Love Trio in Dub feat. U-Roy (Nublu Records 2006)
Wax Poetic, Copenhagen (Nublu Records 2006)
Wax Poetic, Istanbul (Nublu Records 2006)
Wax Poetic, Brazil (Nublu Records 2006)
Reference: wikipedia.org; ilhanersahin.com; doublemoon.com.tr
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