By Heidi Trautmann

It was in 2010 that I led an interview with Vic Lundie from Karmi – very sadly he died a year ago - on rumours of Jazz coming to Cyprus since I had heard of Jazz workshops held on a bi-communal basis. http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=8373432144#.VrOBydJ96JA

Within the last five years the situation has completely changed. Jazz has arrived for sure and recently I was made aware that there are some places, restaurants/bars in Nicosia that now bring concerts on a regular basis. One of the first ones to invite top musicians was Cadi Kazani, the well known and classic Studio Café led by Nilgün Güney and Ates Kozal, others followed, and the recent talk of the town are snug little places, such as The Ghetto and The Gospel, both in the same area in the Osman Paşa Road. There are some remarkable bands that have formed.

Some of the musicians I know for their great talents and so I followed an announcement for 03 February at The Gospel after I have missed one at The Ghetto and one at Cadi Kazani with Cahit Kutrafali a very good bass guitarist I had listened to at some other occasions. Now, on Feb 03, my husband and I went to listen to Suleyman Akosman (vocal and guitar), Ersen Sururi (viola) and Naim Korudağ (guitar); the concert was supposed to start at 9 pm which for us oldies is not too late. What kind of jazz do they play, I was asked, I mean the title says it all.

The place is small but a bar should be just that when you listen to jazz music, sit close together and feel the vibrations of the people around you, see them smile and go with the music, snap their fingers and tap their feet to the rhythms.  Young people who all know each other, nice young people, artists, theatre people, musicians, or just fans. We ordered some wine and with it came some cheese and dried fruit and my husband had a burger freshly made. Very good.

The music ….. we just loved it. With their solos the three musicians showed us what can be done with an instrument. Unbelievable. The whole atmosphere reminded me of the 1970s in New Orleans, those small pubs, one next to each other and in each a different kind of music played by small groups or soloists.

There are many other little places making good music but I have not visited them. For those who love jazz, blues and soul, even rock music, they sure will find some exciting experiences.

The coming events, in this case for The Gospel, are announced on their facebook sites, for example on Feb 05, 09 and 13 etc.. there are different groups performing; the costs are TL 10 per person. You better call them and reserve a space. In future I will pay more attention to such events and place them on my website.