One of the most loved voices of Turkish jazz, vocalist Ayşe Gencer, daughter of pianist and bandleader İlham Gencer and and singer Ayten Alpman, passed away at the age of 66.
Born in 1956, Ayşe Gencer had been under treatment for some time. After winning a competition at the Turkish radio at 20 she began in the late 70s to sing jazz, encouraged by drummer Erol Pekcan, then one of the leading personalities in Turkish jazz. Her first gigs were at the club that for some time was situated in the Galata Tower and then at Jazz Now in Bodrum accompanied by pianist Tuna Ötenel, bassist Nezih Yeşilnil and drummer Cankut Özgül.
She married trumpet player İmer Demirer in 1988 and released her first album, “But Beautiful”, as late as 2011. Ayşe Gencer sang one of her favorite standards, “Everything Happens To Me”, on the 2007 album “Old School Jazz Standards” by bassist İlkin Deniz, and his father’s song, Istanbul, in bassist Ozan Musluoğlu’s 2018 album “My Best Friends are Vocalists” with her husband İmer Demirer on trumpet.
Ayşe Gencer. Born January 11, 1956. Died December 30, 2022
One Response
thank you dear Francesco…