Istanbul music in the NYT

The NYT home page currently has a link to an article about live music venues in Istanbul that made me smile and reminisce.

My first taste of Istanbul night life was a concert by jazz trombonist Ray Anderson in 1999 at a club called Babylon, which is pictured in the article. I met a bartender there, Isin, who would become one of my dearest Turkish friends and who later arranged for me to stay in an artist’s studio (rent-free) across the street from Babylon when I moved back to Turkey in 2001. Over the next six months I could just pop downstairs and the friendly bouncers would let me slip into the shows, which was a good thing since I was too cheap to pay the cover. Some highlights were Stereolab, Mouse on Mars, and another great trombonist, Nils Wogram, who blew me away. Babylon is also memorable because it’s where I spent most of New Year’s Eve 1999.

While Babylon was always a bit pricey and interested in being Important, the first place mentioned in the NYT story, Badehane, was always homey and unassuming, so I was surprised to see it mentioned first off. I don’t hang out in that part of the city very much these days, but it’s become quite the hip area and it’s nice to see Badehane staying put and doing so well. The Wednesday night gypsy music really is amazing and definitely worth checking out.

I started off smiling, but now I realize it’s been ages since I’ve been to a show. Has anyone heard any good live music lately?