After Ece Aksoy
The year was 1985. Günay Tuncel, the owner of Günay, one of Istanbul's most popular music venues, invited us to his place to meet. Since there weren't any cell phones back then, I don't know how we managed to connect. Does anyone actually remember how we used to date? Anyway. The old Günay wasn't in its current location, but in Harbiye. It held about 150 people. Grup Doğuş, consisting of Ferruh, Metin, Sedat, and Celal, with Leman Sam and Vedat Sakman as lead singers, was playing music. But what music? It was exactly like the old saying, "Playing like a record." Günay told me he was planning to open a music bar with Egemen Bostancı on Nispetiye Street in Etiler and asked us to perform there. It was an extraordinary situation for us. Back then, we were an unknown group, performing in small venues, having made our professional debut with Levent Kırca's play "Kadıncıklar." Egemen Bostancı and Günay Tuncel were two prominent figures in Istanbul's nightlife scene. Egemen Bostancı, in particular, was a much-loved and respected figure in the music industry. He began his career as a journalist at Cumhuriyet newspaper and continued on to various other newspapers before becoming a promoter in the early 1970s. His first step was to renovate the old Şan Cinema and transform it into Şan Music Hall.
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He produced numerous musicals here, including "Seven Husbands with a Hurmuz," "The Nightingales with the Joyful Saz," and "The Hisseli Wonders Company," and collaborated with such luminaries as Erol Evgin, Nevra Serezli, Adile Naşit, Ayşen Gruda, Mehmet Ali Erbil, and Ayten Alpman. When we went to meet Egemen Bostancı and the bar's manager, Ece Aksoy, the bar was undergoing final preparations. At the time, we had only wanted to use the name Gündoğarken. But Egemen Bostancı, in his fatherly way, said, "That's not possible; it sounds like a soup restaurant name," so we settled on "Grup Gündoğarken" and, to make sure we didn't give up, he quickly had a neon sign made.
The bar's manager, Ece Hanım, was a very special person. A journalist with a background in journalism, she was incredibly meticulous in her work, loved and feared by everyone. She wanted to make the place a popular destination for journalists, artists, producers, and intellectuals.
Back then, Arif Keskiner owned the "Çiçek Bar" in Sıraselviler, and all the well-known names frequented it. It seemed unlikely that such a bar would become popular in Etiler. Incidentally, when he was looking for musicians for Ece Bar, our dear brother and admirer, Zülfü Livaneli, recommended us there. He heard us at Bodrum Mavi Bar one day and remarked on our beautiful interpretations of both his own compositions and his songs, suggesting we would be a perfect fit.
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The first few days, no one came or went. We'd go to the venue every day around 7:30 PM. We had a backstage area downstairs, and we'd sit there. Let's say 5-10 people showed up. Ece Hanım called us, and we'd immediately go on stage and start working. When they left, we'd wait backstage again. This went on for about a month. At the time, Hümeyra and I had composed the music for Ferhan Şensoy's play "İçinden Tramvay Geçin Şarkı" (The Song That Passed Through a Tram) and were performing it on stage. After the play, Ferhan and the Ortaoyuncular cast came to the bar, sparking a flurry of activity. Thanks in particular to the friendship between Ferhan Şensoy and Egemen Bostancı, and Ece Hanım's hospitality, Ece Bar became Istanbul's finest music bar within a month. We played seven days a week, including Sundays. We met so many people, from Ömer Kavur to Altan Erbulak, from Atıf Yılmaz to Esin Afşar, it's almost impossible to list them all. Yaman Okay speaking with that booming voice, Can Yücel grabbing the microphone and reciting his unbuttoned poems, Onno Tunç taking the piano, Aytaç Arman sitting quietly in a corner of the bar… Ece Bar was like a giant carousel. And when Ece Aksoy left, it stopped forever. Ece Hanım, with whom we've never raised our voices, embraced each other, and hugged each other tightly for 40 years, we can never thank you enough. You might run into us again, give our regards to all the regulars. Here's to the next song…
BirGün
