Of all the important parallels along the time-lines of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu and Romare Bearden—tracings of their aesthetic influences and subjects—none is more important than music. In search of more and more evidence of a Blue Voyage along Anatolian routes that celebrated a rich ancient heritage, Eyüboğlu found the music made by such traditional instruments as the kemençe and the saz very inspiring. So often, not only does this artist present these instruments, music-makers, and dancers to their music; he also presents structures and patterns reflecting these Anatolian sounds and movements. Likewise, Bearden, who came of age when Duke Ellington’s composition “It Don’t Mean a Thing (if it Ain’t Got That Swing)” was on the Harlem jukeboxes, frequently chose jazz music and dancers as his subjects. Moreover, like Eyüboğlu, this people’s music was a model for his paintings, which, like the music, he wanted to swing. As the “Blue Voyagers: The Art of Romare Bearden and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu” nears its closing date, please join us for an evening of music with Standard à la Turc on May 13th, 2015 at Sismanoglio Megaro at 8pm. The evening will start with the welcome remarks of Robert O’Meally, Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and the co-curator of Blue Voyagers: The Art of Romare Bearden and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu exhibition and Francesco Martinelli from Siena Jazz University. Standard à la Turc reverses the usual model and concept of standards. The musical material comes from different Turkish traditions, old and new – folk songs, art songs, pop and rock – and it is reinterpreted and updated with a jazz approach, while respecting the place and meaning of each piece. Önder Focan (guitar), Batu Sallıel (tenor and soprano, saxophone, flute), Ozan Musluoglu (double bass), Ferit Odman (drums). Wednesday, May 13, 2015 8pm Sismanoglio Megaro