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

The Jazz Studies Department and the Intercultural Institute at NEC will present a series of events culminating in a unique concert featuring a mehter (so-called "Ottoman Janissary") band and the NEC Jazz Orchestra.

Mehter bands were the ancestors of the European military bands, which are inherently connected to jazz big bands. Interestingly enough, it was none other than the famous Zildjian family who built cymbals for the mehter bands for more than three centuries before opening their American branch in Massachusetts. At these events we will be honoring the Zildjian legacy while focusing on two other influential families from Turkey — the Erteguns and the Mardins, who are largely responsible for the Atlantic Records' legacy.

The evening concert, featuring NEC's star faculty drummer Nasheet Waits and celebrated saxophonist Sam Newsome, will open with a set performed by the mehter band including NEC faculty and students led by faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol. The first part of the concert will end with the world premiere of a new composition by Sanlıkol which will bring together the mehter band and the NEC Jazz Orchestra, led by Ken Schaphorst.

The second half of the concert will include 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 will end with a well-known arrangement of the funk classic "Pick Up the Pieces" by the late multiple-Grammy winning Turkish-American producer Arif Mardin.