Jaaaazzz; never been my thing, especially when everyone with a musical instrument in their hands starts to go off on one in their own little musical trance-like-state and the result is just a cacophony of noise.
I just don’t get it, and all that ever springs to mind is John Thomson in his hilarious Jazz Club sketches in The Fast Show (loads of examples on YouTube if you’re wondering what I’m going on about).
However, Barry’s a fan. And, of late, I’ve started to really enjoy little bits of jazz – that of the more tuneful-with-a-beat variety.
Is it an age thing, or had I just never before heard the sounds of jazz that actually please my ears, these days?
And when it’s live, well, all the better! Definitely still a novice but definitely getting to be more of an appreciator…
And so, when Buzz Beach Bar in Ölüdeniz shared an event on their Facebook page, we were both well up for going…
Elif Çağlar & Bilal Karaman In Ölüdeniz
That event was on Saturday night. A live performance by award-winning Turkish jazz singer, Elif Çağlar, accompanied by guitarist Bilal Karaman.
Ölüdeniz, Buzz Beach Bar, the backdrop of the sea and the sunset, live jazz. Errrm, yeah, that sounded just blissful to us, really.
We did a little bit of research on YouTube and, yeahy, loved what we heard; a little evening jaunt on the dolmuş to Ölüdeniz was going to be something to look forward to.
Because we’d done our little bit of YouTube investigation, we knew what Elif Çağlar looked like and as soon as she walked up onto the terrace to take her seat, we spotted her.
Some people just look the part, don’t they?
She’s got this fantastically curly hair and beautiful smile that just kind of radiated around the terrace.
She’s tiny, yet her presence filled the roof terrace. She hadn’t sung a word yet and we were both safe in the knowledge that this was gonna be good!
And yeah, it was just everything we wanted it to be.
The sunset and sea were always going to be helpers but they were just an added bonus. We were sat by the bar (all tables were reserved), glass of wine for me, beer for Barry and chilled out, live music as the sun set.
A great way to spend a Saturday night.
According to her bio on her official website, Elif Çağlar studied Jazz Composition at university in Istanbul before going on to the US to do her Masters in Jazz Performance.
She sings mainly in English. And, on the night we watched her, she performed a few familiar cover versions with a twist of jazz, as well as blues and her own compositions.
We loved her voice!
Fethiye is really good at doing things in a low-key, quiet kind of way.
And, over the last few years, a few of Turkey’s top performers have been in the area to do smaller, more intimate performances at bars and camps during the summer months.
Kabak (one of our favourite Turkish singers, Birsen Tezer has performed there) and Kayaköy (Kaya Fest and Kayaköy Art Camp, for example) are usually the places to keep an eye out for these performances.
But, all being well, it looks like Ölüdeniz is joining in, too, with Buzz Beach Bar thinking about doing more of this type of thing on a monthly basis.
For us, Elif Çağlar and guitarist Bilal Karaman was the perfect start.
We very rarely go to Ölüdeniz at night – it’s not too often we’re there in the daytime, come to think of it – because there’s enough going on elsewhere in Fethiye and around to keep us more than entertained.
BUT, if there are going to be musicians of the calibre of Elif Çağlar and other local musicians, too (Buzz Beach Bar has live music twice a week), then the occasional evening hop over the hill to Ölüdeniz could well become a bit of a feature in our summer calendar.
Hmmm, let’s see…
Elif Çağlar & Live Music Events In Fethiye – Useful Info
- If you like jazz music, then Elif Çağlar is going to be right up your street. She has lots of videos on YouTube.
- At the time of writing, Buzz Beach Bar are thinking of doing a monthly event where blues or jazz musicians will be invited to perform. The bar is on the seafront, facing Belcekiz Beach.
- If you’re in the Fethiye area over the summer months and are interested in events like this, we post information on our Fethiye events calendar whenever we find out about them ourselves. Keep an eye out for any updates for the dates you are in the area…
- Elif Çağlar’s new album, Misfit, has just been released and you can listen to her on Spotify.
Alan
Monday 29th of June 2015
. . with so much good stuff out there, what's not to like? Then again, we're a family steeped in jazz so I guess we're biased. Good to pick up on a performer we hadn't taken any note of before.
Turkey's For Life
Tuesday 30th of June 2015
Ohh, yeah, Elif Çağlar's really good Alan. Istanbul Jazz Festival too at the mo isn't it. Would like to be around for that sometime. :)