Esra Dalfidan

Infobox musical artist
Name = Esra Dalfidan


Img_capt = At Jazz Impulse concert, 26 Jan 2008, Parkstad Theater Heerlen
Img_size =
Background = Singer, Composer
Born = Birth date and age|1975|04|20|df=y
Solingen, Germany
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Vocal jazz
Jazz
Scat singing
Composer
Band leader
Years_active = 2004–present
Label = Challenge Records
URL = [http://www.fidan.nl/ www.fidan.nl]

Esra Dalfidan was born in 1975, of Turkish parents, and raised in the German industrial town of Solingen. After a brief career as a music therapist, and after 10 years of studying classical guitar, she decided to switch her life round and focus fully on becoming a professional musician. She was admitted to the Amsterdam Conservatory to study jazz singing and completed her Master's degree in 2007 with honours. She now lives in The Netherlands.

Her Music

As a singer she is difficult to categorize, but it would be fair to say that the core of her music is founded on the broad carpet of musical styles that we call jazz. Her fondness of Turkish and Azeri traditional music gives all of her songs and compositions an oriental accent, sometimes passionate, then melancholic and yearning, and always full of surprises, both in its melodic lines, tempi, and phrasing.

Her own compositions are crisp and precise and full of irregular and changing tempi, 5/4, 7/4, and more, without ever sounding forced. Each of her songs tells a story, and leads the listener on a journey through the singer's and listener's landscape of memories and emotions. It's probably not for nothing that her CD liner notes contain the brief reminder 'Based on a true story'. All this makes for a musical experience quite unlike any other.

Her voice is always on the move. In her songs the presence and absence of her voice provides a nice balance between her singing and playing time for her band members. She sings words and scats, she is loud, she is soft, she is in ballad mode, she is up tempo. The pure sound of her voice opens up the mind like Coltrane's tenor sax could, when playing tunes like India, Spiritual, Olé. There is a remarkable similarity in timbre and straight sound with no or minimal vibrato. With this variety and complexity the music never sounds complex or difficult, on the contrary, it sounds natural, not least because her band members are so well attuned to her and each other.

To quote the artist herself, from her [http://www.myspace.com/esradalfidan Myspace site] :::"The repertoire consists of her compositions: expressing each member's personal musicality and creative way of playing in an uniquely-arranged ensemble. Experimentation with rhythmic patterns, eastern scales and characteristic melodic and harmonic movements have become inevitable trademarks of this formation which carry their listener to diverse and unforgettable moments."

The Band

Her band is called [http://www.fidan.nl/ Fidan] , a Turkish word meaning 'twig' or 'branch'.
* [http://www.tobiasklein.nl/ Tobias Klein] , bass clarinet. The instrument suits the music, and is played brilliantly, echoing the genius of Eric Dolphy at times.
* [http://www.franzvonchossy.com/ Franz von Chossy] , piano. Award winning pianist who moves in and out of and around the singer's tunes weaving a carpet of patterns that supports the whole band beautifully. At times reminiscent of McCoy Tyner in the famous Coltrane group of 1960-1965.
* [http://www.myspace.com/clemensvanderfeen Clemens van der Feen] , double bass. Joined Fidan in January 2008, to fill the gap left by Sean Fasciani, who was Fidan's bass player till December 2007. Award winning Clemens van der Feen has rapidly adapted to the band to become an integral part of its unique sound and style.
* [http://www.uligenenger.com/ Uli Genenger] , drums and percussion. Supports the complex tempi and rhythms effortlessly without ever sounding facile, and there are duets between the singer and drums that are breathtaking.

Influences

As her main influences and source of inspiration Esra mentions the Azeri singer and pianist Aziza Mustafa Zadeh and the Portuguese singer Maria João.
Aziza developed a unique blend of jazz, modern, and Azeri traditional music, called mugam jazz. To get a taste of Aziza's music [http://www.last.fm/music/Aziza+Mustafa+Zadeh/ click here] .
Maria João created a style similar to Esra's, mixing jazz, traditional Portuguese, modern and world music. Check out [http://www.mariajoao.org/ Maria João's fan club's website] to see and hear some of her performances.
The Turkish popular singer [http://www.last.fm/music/Nil%C3%BCfer Nilüfer] features as a secondary influence.

Discography

Colors, November 2007, [http://www.challenge.nl/ Challenge Records] .
Her debut CD 'Colors' contains 11 tracks: 9 compositions of her own, and two traditional songs from Azerbeidjan.

Awards

Winner of the 7th Dutch Vocalists Concours, 2007

Education

* [http://web.fh-heidelberg.de/de/fh-heidelberg/4469.html Fachhochschule Heidelberg] , Music Therapy, 1998.
* [http://www.cva.ahk.nl/EN/home.jsp Amsterdam Conservatory] , completing her Master's degree with honours in 2007

References

* [http://www.vpro.nl/programma/jazz/afleveringen/39422739/media/39618899/?&PlayExternal=1&StartExternal=1 Radio broadcast of Fidan by Dutch VPRO’s Jazz@vpro, recorded 9 May 2008 during Jazz in Duketown, in De Toonzaal in Den Bosch. Broadcast on 23 May 2008. Part 1: Colors, Blue, Sen Gelmez Oldun, Straight Ahead, Endless, Bridges, Worthwhile, Gossip, Yalgizam. ("Music starts at 4:00")] [http://www.vpro.nl/programma/jazz/afleveringen/39422739/media/39618903/?&PlayExternal=1&StartExternal=1 Part 2: Yalgizam, Everlasting Asking]
* [http://www.solinger-tageblatt.de/sro.php?redid=43986&archivredid=1167108&archiv=1 Portrait of Esra in Solinger Tageblatt, 15 May 2008]
* [http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/radio1/nps/kunststof/20061211.wma?start=00:20 Radio interview with Esra Dalfidan on Dutch program "Kunststof", 11 Dec 2006]
* [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=59653 Esra Dalfidan at the 10th Ankara International Jazz Festival, Turkish Daily News, 21 Nov 2006]

External links

* [http://www.fidan.nl Fidan Home page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/esradalfidan Esra Dalfidan's Myspace site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daOa95lfh2w&e Watch Esra on YouTube]
* [http://www.azizamustafazadeh.de Aziza Mustafa Zadeh's official web site]
* [http://www.mariajoao.org/ Maria João's fan club's website]