, Alonisma project
Andrea Romani | flute, ney
Based in Paris, born in Cremona, Italy (1975), Andrea is a self-taught musician who abandoned a promising career in an investment bank in Italy in the ‘90s when he first bought a flute. In 2003 he won a scholarship to the Siena Jazz summer workshop. The next year he joined the Winter Lab of Improvisation in Siena, directed by the pianist Stefano Battaglia. He established in 2008 his first Parisian quartet with Antoine Paganotti - drums, Daniel Benoit - piano, Nicolas Moreaux - bass). He then formed a duet with the guitarist Maxime Fougeres, one of the best guitarists who came from IACP, the school of the Belmondo brothers.
In 2007, he was the flutist on the album Southern Avenue, directed by Fabrizio Cecca’s sextet in Paris, published by Chrystal Records. For this recording (on which the great flutist Nicola Stilo is a guest), Andrea met the French trumpet player Julien Alour and the Italian pianist Giovanni Ceccarelli. Mostly in France and Italy, he has performed many times with the Italian guitar player Federico Casagrande. He also has performed with Gautier Garrigue, Stephane, Lionel Belmondo, Nico Morelli, Karl Yannouska, Sofie Alour, Marco Vaggi, Mauro Gargano, Gaetano Partipilo, and Samy Thiebault.
In the last 10 years started studying Greek, and then Turkish language, music, dance - and wandered across Greece, and then Turkey, hosted by friends, following alluring hearsay and word of mouth. An encounter in Crete with Ross Daly and his host Omer Erdogdular, the great master of the ney, marked another fundamental turn of events. Andrea realized he had to open and enter two communicat- ing doors: those of Byzantium and the Ottoman Sufi
In particular in 2011 he recorded two tracks as a guest of Harris Lambrakis Quartet in the album “Meteora” and performed many concert in Greece with the same group.
In 2014 created in Paris “Alonisma” a collective of international artists from Europe and middle east and Brazil including musicians, painters, film makers, dancers actors, academics.
After years of experiments he recorded his first Album in december 2017 released by Z-Kalan, an imprortant turkish label.
Apostolos Sideris | double bass
Apostolos Sideris was born in 1978 in Athens, Greece, where he had his first musical training, playing the classical flute. By the time he was 15 he had switched to the electric bass. It didn't take long for him to fall in love with the instrument, and he was soon playing with various rock bands around Athens. By the time he was 17, his focus was directed towards jazz, which led him to move to Boston in order to attend Berklee School of Music. During his time at Berklee, he picked up the upright bass, which since then has been his main instrument. Following his stint in Boston, Apostolos moved to New York and earned his Master's degree in Performance, while being instructed by bass virtuoso John Patitucci.
Since then he has been freelancing around the States as well as abroad. He has performed with a wide array of musicians ranging from jazz masters such as drummer Clarence Penn, guitarists Lionel Loueke and Rez Abbasi and pianist Leo Genovese, to world music sensations such as composer and oudist Ara Dinkjan, Greek ECM recording artist Savina Yannatou, Syrian vocal master Youssef Khasab and Lebanese composer Ziad Rahbani.
In addition to being a performer, he is a devoted composer, writing in many different styles, ranging from jazz to Middle Eastern and Latin influenced music. He currently resides in Istanbul and has been directing his creative energy mainly toward working with an Ethnic-Jazz group he co-founded, called MESEL, as well as preparing his own album. It will consist of his own compositions and improvisations, based on Middle Eastern themes refracted through his own jazz-influenced perspective.
Tamer Temel | tenor & soprano saxophone
Born in Istanbul and grew up in İzmir. He worked with Dave Allen (guitar), Masa Kamaguchi (bass) and Marc Miralta on his debut album Barcelona, released in 2010 by A.K. Music.
He has been participating in numerous festivals and performing at important venue as he continues to teach jazz courses at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul. Tamer Temel Quintet released another studio album with A.K. Music label called "Bir Kedi Kara" he played this project in many festivals like İstanbul Jazz festivals, Ak bank Jazz Festival and many others. His latest album “Serbest Düşüş” released on November 2016 by A.K. Müsic. He still teaching jazz and improvising at Bahçeşehir University.
Estreilla Besson | piano
Born in 1994, E.B. was brought up in a world of poetry, philosophy and music. She is tough the piano from the age of 5 through the discipline of both classical and jazz structures.
From 2011 to 2013 she studies at the Didier Lockwood jazz school « CMDL ».
In 2015 she is rewarded at the CRR (Paris Regional Conservatory) as a classical piano musician, in the classes of Célimène Daudet, and of Christian Rivet in chamber music. Presently she is following the perfecting class by Rena Shereshevskaya at the Rueil Malmaison Conservatory - It is mostly the 20 th and 21st century repertoire that she explores throughout her interpretation work. She is also studying conducting at the St-Maur-Des-Fossés conservatory.
She is playing in a quintet for which she writes the music with the Mezzo Soprano Victoria Shereshevskaya, including different kinds of arts (dance, video...), is part of the contemporary orchestra ensemble of the Cité International ''Ensemble Écoute" directed by Fernando Palomeque and Alex Nante, and is also working in Istanbul in the Andrea Romani's (flûte/ney) Alonisma 5tet with Izzet Kizil (percussion), Tamer Temel (sax) et Apostolos Sideris (contrebasse).
Very much taken by balkan music, more specifically turkish, she likes to explore the specific rythmes and makams inside her own composition. (…)
In august 2015, her first contemporary piece was for cello solo and was interpreted by Eric-Maria Couturier (Ensemble Intercontemporain of Paris) at the Music in Brionnais event.
İzzet Kızıl | percussions
İzzet Kızıl is one of the foremost percussionists of Turkey. Based in folk and classical rhythms from the Balkans through to India, Kizil has an open contemporary perspective and has developed his own style.
Internationally he has played and recorded with many respected artists. He is a member of İlhan Erşahin's Istanbul Sessions and has played with Butch Morris's Nublu Orchestra, Karl Berger, John Zorn, Trilok Gurtu, Anja Lechner, Natasha Atlas & Theodosii Spassov's Balkan Winds