Istanbulive at Central Park SummerStage For the first time ever, on Saturday, June 27, the wide variety of contemporary Turkish music will fill the air in New York´s Central Park, as the annual SummerStage music festival hosts Istanbulive: The Sounds & Colors of Turkey. Starring three major artists of Turkish origin-Mazhar Fuat Özkan, Painted on Water (featuring Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan), and Hüsnü Senlendirici with NY Gypsy All-Stars and special guests Vassilis Saleas (Greece) and Brooklyn Funk Essentials (US) - the free event is presented in association with the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism and Serdar Ilhan. Istanbulive: The Sounds & Colors of Turkey will be a true celebration of all things Turkish. New Yorkers will also have an opportunity at this rare celebration to sample vibrant Turkish culture and authentic Turkish food, as well as information on Turkey as a tourist destination. The Performers Mazhar Fuat Özkan (or MFÖ) has been an institution in Turkey for more than 30 years, although their roots can be traced all the way back to 1966, when Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Güner met over a mutual love of the Beatles. By the 1970s, with Özkan Ugur now among their ranks, MFÖ began their award-winning reign. With sentimental as well as humorous lyrics that speak to the lives of the Turkish people - and a richly harmonic folk-rock sound that has been compared to Crosby, Stills & Nash and Simon & Garfunkel - Mazhar Fuat Özkan remains one of the most respected bands in Turkey. Painted on Water is the title of both the band and the ambitious new recording project featuring Sertab Erener, one of the most eminent voices in Turkish pop music, and Turkish rock star, Demir Demirkan, her producer, arranger and songwriting partner. The album, with lyrics in English, combines traditional Turkish folk song with American jazz, pop/rock and blues and features guest appearances by such A-list musicians as jazz guitar giants Al Di Meola and Mike Stern, bassist Kai Eckhardt, keyboardists Alan Pasqua and Tulug Tirpan, drummer Dave Weckl and percussionist Trilok Gurtu. The classically trained Erener is the first and only Turkish artist to win first prize in the esteemed Eurovision competition, with "Every Way That I Can," a song she wrote with the multi-talented Demirkan, who has released 6 albums and 2 film scores, one being a recent Critic's Award Winner. Hüsnü Senlendirici is one of the most virtuosic clarinetist in southeastern Europe. Senlendirici, who has collaborated with Di Meola, tabla legend Zakir Hussain and Bulgarian clarinetist Ivo Paposov, is a prolific conservatory-trained Turkish master whose debut album, The Joy of Clarinet, held the number 1 position on Turkey's pop charts for three months, a record-setting first for an instrumental album. Says the prolific New York trumpeter and bandleader Frank London, "In Turkey, the clarinet is their saxophone and Hüsnü is Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis and Maceo Parker all rolled into one. He is constantly pushing the envelope in any musical setting, raising the bar whether playing pop, improvisation, progressive folk or dance music." Vassilis Saleas is considered the foremost clarinetist in Greece. Best known for his work accompanying Greek new age instrumentalist Vangelis, Saleas is also a highly regarded solo artist in his homeland. He will be flying in from Athens exclusively to share the same stage with Hüsnü Senlendirici on this special occasion. NEXT PAGE »