Welcome

The Sister City Jazz Ambassadors are a group of committed musicians dedicated to building peace through music and people-to-people connections. We are available to perform for your group and will use the proceeds to help fund our citizen diplomacy work via music.

If you would like to know more about us, please explore this website.  You can also follow us on Facebook and on our blog:  Peace-making through Music.  The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy also has an article about the band and our upcoming trip on their blog.

For bookings and all other questions, please contact Andy Kelly:  

  • PHONE:  (413) 499-0172

  • EMAIL:  akelly21@berkshire.rr.com

To make a donation, either click on the "Donate" link on the left to give online, or send a check to:

"Sister City Jazz Ambassadors"
509 Pecks Rd.
Pittsfield, MA 01201

                                            

Keep Up-to-Date with Our Blog:  

Update as our departure draws near...

In just six days we board our plane for 10 days of music and peace-making in Istanbul. It is an exciting adventure filled with possibilities.  It is also a time to both live into the fullness of the beauty of jazz and let the music work its own magic in crossing the boundaries of race, class, gender, religion and culture. For those who want to follow the fun, we'll be blogging and updating every day while in Turkey. And here are a few of the links to where we will be playing:


+ Tuesday, June 14th:  We will open a local arts festival -  the Second International Arts Dialogue - in Beyoglu at the foot of the Galata Tower. We will join a chorus from Yale University as the only Americans in this festival.  The tower was first constructed in Byzantium - in 1348 - when the Genoese colony of Constantinople was growing. This performance will not only allow us to be welcomed by the Mayor of Beyoglu, but we will present him with the key to our city before sharing an hour of American jazz.  We'll be exhausted after 14 hours of travel, but too excited at being a part of this important event. check it out: http://en.beyoglu.bel.tr/beyoglu_municipality/news_default.aspx?SectionId=1659&ContentId=24394

+ We then head off to our flat for dinner and crashing in the historic district of Beyoglu - Faik Pasa Street to be specific - where we will hoist a bit of Raki, unwind and get ready for a day of hunting down equipment, amplifiers and who knows what else.  Most of Wednesday will be spent getting focused - meeting a few new friends and contacts - and wandering our new home to get a feel for the groove.  No gigs scheduled but... who knows?  We have a roof top terrace and thoughts of Abbey Road are rampant among us.

+ On Thursday, June 16th we play an afternoon/early evening gig at the Pasazade Resaurant in the Old City.  The menu is old school Ottoman cuisine with some recipes going back to the earliest days of the city.  Our hope is to play some jazz, stop and visit with folks who stop by and find some local Turkish jazz folk who might want to sit in.  And then, who knows?  Back to our terrace for some more improvisation and Raki?  Who could ask for more? check it out: http://www.pasazade.com/eng/

+ Most of Friday is open - lots of sleeping and eating to follow - before we play an evening gig at the Live GitarCafe back in Beyoglu.  For 11 years this was known as the GITARCAFE - THE place in Istanbul for musicians from different cultures to play and work together - it is now under new ownership but keeping the dream alive.  It looks like a small but totally eclectic venue so it will be incredible to be up close and personal with folks drawn to the multi-cultural commitment we bring to the table.
 
+ Who knows what will happen Saturday morning, but we head for the city of Iznik by car, bus and ferry to play at a local club and stay at the owner's home.  Iznik is the ancient city of Nicea for those of the Christian tradition. Wikipedia writes: İznik (which derives from the former Greek name Νίκαια, Nicaea) is a city in Turkey which is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Christian church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea. It served as the interim capital city of the Byzantine Empire between 1204 and 1261, following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261.

+ We have a free day on Sunday, June 19th and eventually get ourselves back to Istanbul. Most of Monday, June 20th is open, too but we are going to play a gig at the Barcode Cafe that evening. It is open from 9:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the morning!  It looks to be a wild and rockin' place - and it doesn't look like we'll have too much trouble fitting right in.  Probably have to do some Stevie Wonder, blues and Chuck Berry to keep a riot from happening in addition to straight ahead jazz.  check it out: http://www.barcoderestcafe.com/barcode2.html

+ Tuesday, June 21st is a free day to get a chance to explore the city but I just know another gig - or improv concert - is going to happen, too.  We've already talked about staying up all night because we leave Istanbul at O- God-Hundred Wednesday morning and get back to NYC sometime around 4 pm.

There will be more to say here - with tons of pix and video with commentary coming, too - but that's an update.  There will be 8 of us heading out - Sue, Andy, Tessa, James, Dianne, John, Ben and Charlie - and Bennie's mom will join us two days later.

[Posted by RJ, June 7]

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