THE LEGACY OF ISTANBUL IN AMERICA Features The NEC Jazz Orchestra And A Mehter Band At Jordan Hall

The Jazz Studies department and the Intercultural Institute at NEC present a full-day event on Thursday, February 27 which includes a workshop, presentations, and a panel discussion followed by a concert featuring the NEC Jazz Orchestra and a mehter band (so-called “Ottoman Janissary Band”).

The 7:30 p.m. concert at Jordan Hall also features the world premiere of Echoes from a Forgotten Past by NEC faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlikol. Guest performers include saxophonist Sam Newsome and drummer and faculty member Nasheet Waits. Admission is free. Information at necmusic.edu.

Mehter bands were the ancestors of the European military bands. As a result, jazz big bands are inherently connected to them. None other than the famous Zildjian family built cymbals for the mehter bands for at least three centuries before opening their American branch in Massachusetts. The NEC concert honors the Zildjian legacy while focusing on two other influential families from Turkey, the Erteguns and the Mardins, as well as the Atlantic Records legacy. 

The concert opens with a set performed by the mehter band including a number of NEC faculty and students led by faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol. Later in the program, Sanlikol's new composition bringing together the mehter band and the NEC Jazz Orchestra receives its world premiere.

The second half of the concert includes jazz classics from the Atlantic catalogue including John Coltrane's “My Favorite Things,” Ray Charles's “Let the Good Times Roll,” and Jimmy Giuffre's “The Train and the River.” The concert ends with a well-known arrangement of the funk classic “Pick Up the Pieces” by the late multiple-Grammy winning Turkish-American producer Arif Mardin. 

Full schedule of events:

Mehter Band Workshop

Thursday, February 27 | 10 a.m. | Brown Hall

The Jazz Studies Department and the Intercultural Institute at NEC present this workshop led by faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlikol.

Zildjians, Atlantic Records and Jazz: Presentations by John Edward Hasse and Mehmet Sanlikol

Thursday, February 27 | 12 noon | Eben Jordan Ensemble Room

John Edward Hasse, Curator Emeritus of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, discusses “The Ertegun Brothers and Atlantic Records.” Faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlikol will speak about “The Zildjians and Mehter Bands.”

Panel Discussion

Thursday, February 27 | 2:30 p.m. | Pierce Hall

A panel discussion moderated by Ken Schaphorst, co-chair of the Jazz department, will include Ingrid Monson, Quincy Jones Professor of African-American Music at Harvard University, John Edward Hasse and Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol.

Zildjians, Atlantic Records and Jazz: The Legacy of Istanbul in America Concert