ISTANBUL — International Jazz Day is being held in Osaka this year but there will still be many jazz concerts in last year's host city Istanbul, including performances by Loa Nur and Evgeny Grinko.

International Jazz Day, held on April 30 each year, is organized by UNESCO. The day was first proclaimed during UNESCO's General Conference in 2011 to celebrate "the virtues of jazz as an educational tool for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people." Since 2011, the day brings together millions around the world to celebrate and learn about the history of Jazz and some popular contemporary musicians. This year Osaka's Castle Park will welcome more than 30 renowned performers including performances by Toshiko Akiyoshi, John Beasley (Musical Director), Kris Bowers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Theo Croker, Sheila E. The stars will shine at the All-Star Global Concert which will be broadcasted live from the website jazzday.com The streets of Istanbul and many other cities in Turkey will again be bursting with jazz melodies.

Last year, Istanbul's Hagia Irene hosted some of the most prominent jazz musicians from across the world. This year, "Back to Bop feat. Noa Lur @ Nardis Jazz Club Istanbul" will welcome Spain's Loa Nur who will be joined on stage by some of Istanbul's top jazz musicians, including Bulut Gülen on trombone, Kürsat Deniz on piano, Önder Foçan on guitar, Volkan Topakoglu on bass and Cengiz Baysal on drums.

Chet Baker fans should head to Salon IKSV for Garanti Caz Yesili's "trumpet genius comes alive with the vocals" series with the "Caz Agacı: Chet Baker" Project. Garanti Caz Yesili will also welcome BBC Worldwide Award winner "Nostalgia 77" at Nublu tonight and Evgeny Grinko at Garajistanbul tonight. One of Turkey's most successful and famous jazz pianists, Kerem Görsev and his trio will be accompanied by multi-instrumentalist and jazz and pop singer-composer Fatih Erkoç to bring some American jazz tunes to us at Caddebostan Culture Center.