An entertaining evening of jazz - Pablo Held Trio in Antalya

As part of the Izmir Jazz Festival, the Goethe Institute Izmir, in cooperation with AKVAM Antalya and Alaturka.info, invited the Pablo Held Trio to a concert in Antalya. We had previously reported about it.

So now the evening had come and the organizers and we too were curious about the reactions of the guests, because jazz music is not as widespread here in Turkey as it is in Europe.

Amplification system and the light were done in-house

Already in the afternoon we were able to attend the short rehearsal of the Pablo Held Trio, which took place on the stage of the Atatürk Conference Hall on the campus of Akdeniz University. The Pablo Held Trio consists of pianist Pablo Held, bass violinist Robert Landfermann and drummer Jonas Burgwinkel, all from the Cologne region. When setting up the stage for the group's instrumentation and lighting system, the Goethe Institute organized the necessary instruments in the form of bass violin, drums and grand piano, instruments that would simply have been too bulky to transport on the plane. The drummer Jonas Burgwinkel only brought a few additional parts that were needed. The amplification system and the lighting were provided in-house and set up by the university technician. A piano tuner was also summoned at short notice so that the instruments could be tuned to one another. Already during the rehearsal it was clear that there were no problems in getting the musicians to agree, because a few pieces were quickly played and fit. As to be expected from professionals.

Prof. Erol Esen then opened the performance of the Pablo Held Trio

At around 7 p.m. the auditorium of the Atatürk Conference Hall was already filling up with the first visitors. Around 7:30 p.m., around 50% of the seats were already occupied.

When it was supposed to start at 8 p.m., the hall was almost completely filled with around 500 listeners. That was surprising. So many jazz lovers in Antalya!

That was hardly to be expected. Among the visitors was the Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms. Karin Köller. A short speech to the visitors by the head of the AKVAM Institute, Prof. Erol Esen, then opened the performance of the Pablo Held Trio.

This was followed by a brief introduction to the jazz group by bandleader Pablo Held, the audience was welcomed in English with a brief explanation of the city tour of Antalya that took place in the afternoon, and off we went.

And as already mentioned several times in advance, there were no interruptions during the concert due to announcements or the separation of the individual pieces of music, it was a perfect unit.

One could literally experience how musicians and instruments melted into one another, almost slipping away in something like a trance and thus presented a one-hour repertoire of their musical affinity.

It actually corresponded to the already announced transitions of individual pieces without interruption. Only rarely was eye contact between the musicians necessary, everyone was engrossed in their own instrument without losing sight of their musical partner, better yet, losing their ears. Even space for short solo interludes was placed so perfectly that you could really see the group as a musical unit. The audience also went along accordingly, not a sound could be heard, not, as is often the case, a constant whispering and murmuring in the background. Despite the concerns initially expressed, it was a musically successful evening.

So the audience was almost surprised when, after the one-hour performance, the end of the concert was reached. The group Pablo Held thanked the audience and left behind the stage with much applause. Prof. Erol Esen closed the event with a few concluding words, not without presenting the musicians with an obligatory certificate of their performance in Antalya, awarded by Akdeniz University. Consul Karin Köller also echoed his words and personally thanked the musicians, who also took the time to talk to other guests or pose for photos.

The evening ended with a joint dinner hosted by the organizers from the Goethe Institute, AKVAM Antalya and Alaturka.info together with the musicians of the Pablo Held Trio.

Please also read:

Now it's off to the Grenzlos Festival in Augsburg

Andrea and John at the destination of their project - Mount Olympus