MadenOktemErsonmez (MOE) is a modern jazz trio which brings together some of the finest musicians from Istanbul, Turkey. Their music is spontaneous, open to interactions onstage, both between the trio and their audience. The performance includes a huge scale of greens from jazz, rock, drum'n bass, punk, noise, electronic to ambient.

Sarp Maden

Started his music career when he was 15. He studied music at Ankara BIlkent University. He is one of the most significant figures in Istanbul's jazz scene. Some of the albums he played and released himself include;

Acid Trippin’ - Midnite Rebels 1996 (Ali Perret, Yahya Dai, Erkan Ogur, Ercument Ates), Lodos 1997 (Ates Tezer, Mahmut Yalay, Oguz Buyukberber), Trio Mrio 1998 (Volkan Oktem, Caglayan Yildiz), Quartet Muartet - Dokuz Parca 2004 (Volkan Oktem, Alp Ersonmez, Genco Ari), Quartet Muartet - Dokuz Parca 2007 (Volkan Oktem, Alp Ersonmez, Genco Ari), Sarp Maden - Bence 2008 (Volkan Oktem, Eylem Pelit, Genco Ari, Sibel Kose), Sarp Maden - Ardindan 2010 (Turgut Alp Bekoglu, Eylem Pelit, Adnan Karaduman, Imer Demirer, Sevval Sam), Cagri Sertel - Newborn 2010 (Cagri Sertel, Kagan Yildiz, Ediz Hafizoglu), Sarp Maden - Durgun Sular 2011 (Engin Recepogullari, Matt Hall, Derin Bayhan), Sarp Maden - Durmaksizin 2013 (Engin Recepogullari, Matt Hall, Derin Bayhan, Serkan Ozyilmaz), Trio Mrio 2 2014 (Volkan Oktem, Caglayan Yildiz), Kucuk Sir 2014 (Volkan Oktem, Eylem Pelit, Genco Ari), Bilinmez 2015 (Derin Bayhan, Alper Yilmaz, Ercument Orkut, Engin Recepogullari)

Some of the musicians he shared the stage with;

Mike McGinnis, Gilad Atzmon, Nick Kadajski, Jef Giansily, Stephane Belmondo, Okay Temiz, EST Symphony (Magnus Ostrom, Dan Berglund, Jacky Terrasson, Marius Nieset), Rova Saxophone Quartet, Ricky Ford, Dan Moretti, Erkan Ogur, Reyent Bolukmbasi, Yahya Dai, Emre Kartari, Bilal Karaman, Ozan Musluoglu, Kagan Yildiz, Ferit Odman, Cengiz Baysal, Ediz Hafizoglu, Volkan Oktemn, Alp Ersonmez, Sibel Kose, Eylem Pelit, Genco Ari, Alper Yilmaz, Turgut Alp Bekoglu, Caglayan Yildiz, Ali Perret, Imer Demirer, Engin Recepogullari, Derin Bayhan, Matt Hall, Serkan Ozyilmaz, Ercument Orkut, Cagri Sertel, Sabri Tulug Tirpan

Alp Ersonmez

Born in İzmir,Turkey, Alp Ersönmez is a group member of such bands as İlhan Erşahin’s İstanbul Sessions, MadenÖktemErsönmez, İlhan Erşahin’s Wonderland feat. Hüsnü Şenlendirici and FOURinthePOCKET. He is also the bass player of the Turkish pop icon Tarkan, singer/songwriter Nil Karaibrahimgil and he is the MD in the band of Turkish pop star Yalın. His list of live and studio performances include names like Kangroove, Erkan Oğur -Telvin, Uzaktaki Müzik (with Erkan Oğur and Derya Türkan), Dilek Türkan, Quartet Muartet, Erik Truffaz, Wax Poetic, Alexandre Tassel, Aydın Esen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Butch Morris, Eddie Henderson, Athena, Arto Tunçboyacıyan, Papa Dee (Brooklyn Funk Essentials), Dj.Logic, Cahit Berkay of Moğollar, Karina Zeviani (of Thievery Corporation and Nouvelle Vague), Clark Gayton, Kenan Doğulu, Sertab Erener (the winner of 2003 Eurovision Song Contest with the song“Every Way That I Can”), Önder Focan and Lost Songs of Anatolia.He also has performed on numerous pop albums, soundtracks and compilations which has been released worldwide. He arranged, played bass and keyboards on Turkey’s major ska/rock band Athena’s 2010 album, “Pis”. He also is the arranger and co-producer of Dilek Türkan’s “Suya Söyledim” album, 2015.

Alp Ersönmez’s debut album “Yazısız (2011)” contains his compositions which are products of mixture of styles, put together with the help of the contemporary musical conceptions and capabilities of the modern harmonic textures.Names like Erik Truffaz, Erkan Oğur, İmer Demirer, Sibel Köse and Akın Eldes have contributed to the album besides Turgut Alp Bekoğlu on drums and Genco Arı on Rhodes and synth.

His new project “Cereyanlı” is an electro/jazz concept, in which the jazz compositions are played with the help of the electronics,loopers and computer.

Volkan Oktem

Volkan Öktem was born on June 25, 1970 in Izmir. He became interested in music around the age of 7. When he was 11, he started playing the drums with military musicians at the local Officers’ Club. In 1985, he relocated to Ankara, where he got a chance to play with many different rock and pop bands, including Alpay for 3 years, who was one of most famous singers of the time. He also peformed at various night clubs, playing a diverse repertoire, including traditional Turkish music. This gave him a chance to develop his understanding of rhythm furthermore and laid the foundations of his personal and unique style.

Because of his interest in jazz music, he gravitated towards performing at various jazz gigs, where he played with some of the best musicians, such as pianist Tuna Otenel and Janusz Szprot. During this time, he made quite a following for himself and his name began circulating in the music industry. He considered some offers and decided to move to Istanbul in 1994. This was the beginning of a new era in his life…

He performed on more than 100 albums in Istanbul with many different artists, such as Sezen Aksu, Fahir Atakoglu and Nilufer. He also played with international musicians and groups at different clubs and concerts around the globe.

In 1996, he collaberated with 6 other musicians and formed the group “Habbecik” and performed on his first ethnic jazz project. Habbecik released an album named “An meselesi” and continued playing at music festivals and concerts for several years. Also in 1996, he and a couple of his good friends formed the jazz fusion group named Trio Mrio. Several years later, with the addition of another friend, they released their first album “9 parca (9 singles)”and renamed the group Quartet Muartet appropriately. With an ever increasing fan base, they still work together and perform at various clubs and concerts.

In 1999, he found the perfect environment to reflect his unique style, when he and several other musicians formed “Laco Tayfa”, which fuses traditional Turkish music with jazz, funk and reggea. They released two albums named “Bergama Gaydasi” and “Hicaz Dolap”. They performed locally as well as globally at many concerts, such as; New York Central Park USA in May 2002 and 9th International Istanbul Jazz Festival in July 2002.

He played with Sertab Erener, the winner of 2002 Eurovision Song Contest, at local and global venues. In the meantime, he still participated in various jazz projects, continued working on albums and kept on performing at concerts.

He performed on Askin Arsunan’s “One a day” album and also played at 7th International Istanbul Jazz Festival with Askin Arsunan Ethno-Karma Band in July 2000. In July 2004, he played with John Scofield in 11th International Istanbul Jazz Festival. Furthermore, in Jannuary 2005 he played withBendik Hofseth “Down to Earth” project in Is Sanat Jazz Days.

In July 2005, he performed at 12th International Istanbul Jazz Festival, with Muvaffak “Muffy” Falay and Elvan Araci, and also played with İstanbul Superband for Dianne Reeves.

He played with Okan Ersan & Istanbul Superband in Leverkussen Jazz Festival in November 2006 and November 2007. He performed on Yamaha All Stars Europe in Frankfurt on March 13th, 2008. He also played for Dee Dee Bridgewater with Istanbul Super Band in Izmir Jazz Festival on March 2nd, 2009.

He played in Aydin Esen Group with Aydin Esen and Selcuk Karaman, in Sunside Jazz Club-Paris on September 22nd, 2009, on February 2010 Ankara Jazz Festival and on March 2010 feat. Wolfgang Muthspiel at Porgy and Bess Club in Vienna.

Presently, Volkan Öktem is touring with Tarkan, one of the most famous musicians in Turkey, playing at concerts in many cities in Turkey and Europe. He still continues working on studio recordings in Turkey, as well as performing internationally for various projects, MadenOktemErsonmez Trio being his favourite.