Nilüfer Ruacan Verdi (born 1956) is a Turkish
jazz pianist
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...
; she is the first female jazz pianist in Turkey.
Personal life
Nilüfer Verdi was born into a family of musicians in
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, Turkey, in 1956.
Her father Nejat Verdi, whose ancestors were
Cretan
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, an ...
emigrants,
was a percussionist, her mother Liselotte "Lilo" Auer Verdi was a painter and her older brother Murat Verdi is a drummer.
Verdi became interested in music at a young age. She began taking piano lessons and continued with them into her high-school years.
After attending Özel Eseniş Lisesi, a private high school in
Arnavutköy, Istanbul,
she moved to the United States to study music and took lessons in piano, harmony, arrangement and musical composition.
She was educated at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
and by notable American pianists including
Jack Reilly at
The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
in New York City, and
Ray Santisi
Ray Santisi (1 February 1933 – 28 October 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, recording artist and educator.
Santisi has played as a featured soloist with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Mel Torme, Irene Kral, He ...
,
Bob Winter
Robert Rickaby Winter (born 31 March 1937) is a Scottish former politician who was Lord Provost of Glasgow from 2007 until 2012.
Early life
Winter was born on 31 March 1937 in the Maryhill area in the north of the city and was educated at Allan ...
and
Billie Pierce at
Berklee College of Music in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
Verdi married jazz guitarist Neşet Ruacan, whom she had met in Istanbul, in New York City in 1978.
In 1979, she gave birth to her only son, Nedim Ruacan,
who would later become a percussionist.
The couple divorced in 1999.
Career
Nilüfer Verdi is the first female jazz pianist in Turkey.
She has played with many local and foreign musicians in jazz clubs and festivals in Turkey and abroad, including
Akbank
Akbank T.A.Ş. is one of the largest banks in Turkey. Founded in 1948, , it had revenues of nearly TL 13.7 billion. Listed on the Borsa Istanbul, its largest shareholders are members of the Sabancı family. Akbank is a bank that offers vehicle ...
,
Yapı Kredi, Bilsak, Boğaziçi, Kuşadası,
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
(2009),
Afyonkarahisar (2007)
and Houston, CanAm and Port Heron. She performed at a 28-day tour of the People's Republic of China.
In 1997, Verdi released her first CD album ''Mânâ'' ("Meaning" or "Explanation"), an instrumental jazz album, through the record label
Ada Müzik. Verdi composed seven of the nine tracks, played the piano and was accompanied by her spouse, Neşet Ruacan on the guitar, John Ormondon on bass guitar and
Ari Hoenig on drums.
Her second album ''İZhar'' ("Disclose") was released by
A.K. Müzik in 2007. Nine of the ten tracks are instrumental while the last track "Unutmayın" ("Don't Forget") was written to commemorate the death of her son's paternal aunt Nükhet Ruacan the same year. Verdi played piano and was accompanied by Kamil Özler on the guitar,
Kağan Yıldız Kağan may refer to:
* Khagan, a Turkic title
* Kağan Söylemezgiller, Turkish footballer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagan
Turkish masculine given names
Masculine given names ...
on the double bass and her son Nedim Ruacan on drums.
The album features musical arrangements including "Kara Toprak" ("Black Soil") by Turkish folk poet
Âşık Veysel (1894–1973), the 1938-ballad "
Prelude to a Kiss by
Duke Ellington, "Oggigiorno" by
Franco Cerri
Franco Cerri (29 January 1926 – 18 October 2021) was an Italian guitarist and double bassist.
Biography
Cerri was born in Milan and learned to play guitar when he was 17. In 1945 he became a member of the group led by Gorni Kramer and joined ...
and "Mrs. Waterlilly" by Kamil Özler.
In 2016, Verdi released her third CD, a six-track album called ''Knidost'', through Ada Müzik. The album features her arrangements of Turkish folk music from
türkü
Turkish folk music (''Türk Halk Müziği'') is the traditional music of Turkish people living in Turkey influenced by the cultures of Anatolia and former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under ...
s of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
n
ashik
An ashik ( az, aşıq, ; tr, âşık; fa, عاشیق) or ashugh ( hy, աշուղ; ka, აშუღი) is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as '' hikay ...
s,
including Âşık Veysel and
Neşet Ertaş
Neşet Ertaş (1938 – 25 September 2012) was a Turkish folk music singer, lyricist, modern ashik and virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument the bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as ''halk ozanı'', which literally means ...
(1938–2012) as well as the popular Istanbul folk song "
Kâtibim
"Kâtibim" ("my clerk"), or "Üsküdar'a Gider İken" ("while going to Üsküdar") is a Turkish folk song about someone's clerk ('' kâtip'') as they travel to Üsküdar. The tune is a famous Istanbul türkü, which is spread beyond Turkey in ma ...
", which was sung by Ülkü Aybala Sunat with Verdi on piano and Apostolos Sideris on double bass.
Verdi performs in her own band Nilüfer Verdi Jazz Trio, which consists of Verdi on piano with Apostolos Sideris on bass and Turgut Alp Bekoğlu on drums.
Gender equality ideas
Nilüfer Verdi dedicated her first two albums to women.
She justified her decision with "All over the world, negative discrimination is being applied against women that is not suitable for the century we live in. I wanted to emphasize that the blessings of civilization should be available to all genders. It is really difficult to explain the women's perspective to men."
Referring to her son, she said; "I did not apply to my son the privileges that families give to boys. He also grew up among successful women, who showed themselves in social life." She added; "the paternal grandaunt of my son, Melahat Ruacan, was the first female member of the
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
, his paternal aunt Nükhet Ruacan (1951–2007) was a notable jazz singer, his maternal grandmother Liselotte Auer a painter and his paternal grandmother Ümran Ruacan was a Morse code telegraphist."
Discography
* ''Mânâ'' (Ada Müzik, 1997)
* ''İzhar'' (A.K. Müzik, 2007)
* ''Knidost'' (Ada Müzik, 2016)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdi, Nilufer
1956 births
Living people
Musicians from Istanbul
Juilliard School alumni
The New School alumni
Berklee College of Music alumni
Turkish jazz pianists
Turkish women pianists
Women jazz pianists
20th-century pianists
21st-century pianists
20th-century Turkish women musicians
21st-century Turkish women musicians
Turkish people of Greek descent
20th-century women pianists
21st-century women pianists