vendredi 18 juin 2010

Magic and Amazing Istambul



16 million people, 4 times as many as Paris.. a perfect mix of Ottoman beauty, European and Asian style, also a perfect mix of tradition and extreme modernity. A total surprise for all of us, the city has changed so much, yet managed to keep its soul at the same time..

Under a very hot temperature, we joined the band at the hotel, then went to see the stage and the crew. Everybody was excited to be together again. We had a dinner in a cool terrace by the Bosphorus organized by Zeynep our charming promoter.. The following morning we went with the musicians to some music stores where Claude and I bought some great and rare turkish cymbals..

Later we went to the venue by boat to do the sound check under 40 degrees... The instruments were so hot that I could not touch my Memory Moog. We did a decent rehearsal, the most challenging moment being to try the laser harp under the sun! We had to cover the captors and wait till sunset to check it..

Then the concert started at 21h40.. I had to climb the back of the grand stand to appear at the top of it, at the beginning of the show, quite an experience.. The concert went really well, in spite of the fact that we did not have our regular PA system and that I was really burning on stage with the extreme heat.. The turkish audience was as hot as the weather and we had a great evening together..

The following day, I had a few meetings, I saw a strange audio/ visual installation, part of a large art exhibition organised at the occasion of Istanbul being European cultural capital 2010. The audio part of this installation is produced by Aphex Twin. In the evening, we all had dinner at a beautiful villa owned by two sisters, lovely women, one being involved in an association taking care of autistic children in Turkey, the other is involved in Soufi music, and she played us incredible recordings of traditional turkish music.

Then we went all together by boat on the Bosphorus to the old part of Istanbul to visit some place they have in mind for a future outdoor concert. We'll see.. Anyway, the trip on the river in the middle of the night surronded by old Mosques, was awesome.

15 commentaires:

Robi a dit…

Thank you Jean Michel for having back you more on blog! :)

Yes Istanbul is a great city, though i have never been there personally....

Next exotic destination is Lebanon !
Wishing you the best for that too.

Meanwhile the Hungarian fan-team working on having back you next year somewhere in Hungary outdoor ! ;-)

LJ.Isis a dit…

Great to hear you enjoyed Istanbul, Jean Michel.
See you soon in Glasgow and Manchester.
Love and hugs,
Linzi

Unknown a dit…

Je suis tres contemps que vous avier aimer Istanbul! Je suis Turc et je travaille dans NTV, la chanal qui a enregistrer en HD le concert. Je fait du montage dans la canal. Je vous ecoute depuis 25 anneés! Le concert ici a Istanbul etais incroyable!! Moi apart le montage je fais aussi du live VJ'ing depuis 5 ans avec des musiciens en live- voici mon site : www.myspace.com/cottonav

J'espere que vous reviendrai ici a Istanbul pour une deuxieme foix!

- Ozan Akinci

Heidcast a dit…

I find wonderful you to tell us your personal impressions and professional and take the pictures by your-self... the truth is that I love that! I wait this kind of news with great enthusiasm!!!


...Perhaps now, with these new experiences in your life
animes you reach other corners of the planet where you will be well received, for people who love you as much as here in Europe, I speak of those who do not have the opportunity to travel and enjoy your concert, both outdoors and indoors, which are more than fabulous! My hometown is very far away, and I know that I speak ...

I will always thank you for being who you are,
I will always thank you for sharing your talent ...
Always give us what we want and need ...

with true love...

Heidie

Nina, Anna Ostasiuk a dit…

Was amazing !!!!!!!!!!!
See you soon :)

Robi a dit…

New album blog post? ;-

danée73 a dit…

Hello Jean Michel, I guess you had a good time in Istambul. I cant wait to see you in Santiago de Compostela next month. This will be te first time for my wife to visit one of your concerts. As this will be a outdoor concert, will you go through the audience at the beginning???? :-) See you soon and thank you for coming to spain.

Non-Linear Music a dit…

Hi Jean Michel!

I thought I wouldn't see you in Holland so soon, so when I was in the UK and got a mail from the ticketmaster that you will be iin the lowlands in November I hijacked the desktop of the people who were letting us this awesome 1000 year old watermill, how's that for a environmental friendly building?
I brought my portable studio with me so I could make music when inspiration hit me.
And it did, hope to release my first album at the end of this year.

Thanks for being an inspiration for me for so long. If it weren't for you I probably would have choosen to play synths.

Saussicon and Sushi, the stuff that will help you guys touring he?
It could have been the songtitle of a Tom Waits song LOL!

I hope this time you will get the chance to do what you were planning to do during on the "Indoors" tour.
I loved the lazers and the Roland GTR Keyboard.
What an amazing sound, so powerful and you really were freaking on that thing.

I bought a Nord Wave after you got one.
Awesome synth and the Mellotron samples are brill.

I will be sitting at the 2nd row at the front so smile a lot, ok?

Greetz,

Non-Linear Music

Non-Linear Music a dit…

yeah, it's me again.
Sorry for all the typos but it's 3 am on a tuesdaynight or wednesdaymorning whatever you fancy and I'm using my cell.
You got me playing the synths, but you all figured that one out already, didn't you?

Peace,

Non-Linear Music

Anonyme a dit…

hi 上來跟大家問聲好~~ 別玩得太累~~.................................................................

vanello a dit…

Hello, Jean Michel and JM fans!!!
I invite all of you to listen my version of the short movie music theme "Palawan - The Last Refuge". This is my way of saying "Thank you , Jean Michel for your wondeful music and for being my inspiration for so many years".
I hope you like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHwsWfZUAqU

My best wishes!
Vanello.

gri kent sakini a dit…

forever Jean Michel Jarre , amazing night ... after sun see you :)

daden a dit…

le bosphore n'est pas une rivière , mais il est bien sur magnifique !

Jasmine Kurb a dit…

Whenever I will get a chance to go out of my country I will go to Istambul for sure. I like turkey and especially Istanbul. It is a very beautiful City. Their culture and lifestyle are amazing and lovely. Being an assignment writer in Dubai I always need to travel to get some ideas for writing and also for vacation. writing is not an easy job at all.

Guest a dit…

Great post! The content is well-written and informative. https://www.roofinghalifax.ca/