Sharon Clark from the USA and Melis Sokmen of Turkey at the Turkish American Association in Ankara. (Photo by Anthony M. Read)
A Turkish Take on Black American History
Melis Sokmen stole the show. On a night when the US Embassy celebrated Black America’s artistic contributions to US history, the African Turkish vocalist Sokmen captivated the crowd with a soulful jazz rendition of Malaika. Before the pianist sounded the first note, Sokmen led the rapt audience on a journey through her childhood. The daughter of a Guinean woman and Turkish man, Sokmen’s mother sang her baby girl Malaika as a lullaby. ...more
A Day in the Village
While touring Turkey to celebrate “African American Days,” the Sharon Clark Quintet, Turkish jazz artist Melis Sokmen and American artist Leroy Campbell took time to visit the Afro-Turk village of Haskoy, located near Izmir, for an afternoon of sharing good food and great jazz. In this video segment, Sharon Clark and Melis Sokman perform a couple of jazz classics...
Student Workshop on Energy Issues
February 19-20, 2010 –Students from several Turkish Universities organized a workshop on energy issues from February 19-20, 2010 in Izmir. Hosted by the Izmir University of Economics, and co-sponsored by Middle East Technical University, Bilkent University, Istanbul Technical University, Marmara University and Adnan Menderes University, the student led workshop focused on energy issues in today’s economy. …more
A Hero’s Welcome at Europe’s First Best Buy
As luck would have it, I picked the right guy. “I’m a hero”, he told me, “I’m trained to speak about all sections of the store”. A hero is exactly whom I needed to lead me through the hordes of people at the opening of Best Buy’s first European store. After cutting the ribbon and wading through an aisle of raucous employees, we arrived in the laptop section. I quickly spotted Ozan standing quietly next to a Toshiba. “How long have you worked for Best Buy?” I asked. “Three months”, he proudly said, “let me show you around!” ...more
