Islak Köpek is a free improvisation

Free improvisation

Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....

 band from Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. Its current members are Robert Reigle, Volkan Terzioglu, Sevket Akinci, Korhan Erel.

Islak Köpek’s original lineup of Korhan Erel, Şevket Akıncı, Volkan Terzioğlu and Volkan Ergen had their first performance in the summer of 2005. Following a series of performances at Galata Perform and Jazz Cafe

Jazz Café

The Jazz Café is a music venue in Parkway in Camden Town, London, England. It opened in 1990, in the former premises of Barclays Bank, and has been run by Mean Fiddler Music Group since 1992, now a subsidiary of the MAMA Group.-History:...

 in Istanbul, Dirk Stromberg and Robert Reigle joined the band in January 2006. The six-piece band played regular performances at Galata Perform as well as other venues and also did some recordings. Volkan Ergen left in the summer of 2006 to pursue other musical interests. The five-piece band played at Transit Improvisation Days Istanbul 2006 with Le Quan Ninh

Lê Quan Ninh

Lê Quan Ninh is a French percussionist active in contemporary music and free improvisation.He began studying piano at the age of 5, but turned towards percussion as a teenager. When he was 16, he entered the National Conservatory in Versailles. During this time he discovered free jazz...

, Kirstie Simpson, Talin Buyukkurciyan, and Yanaël Plummet and then again in 2007, a sold-out concert at the Akbank Jazz Festival in September 2006, at the A.M.B.E.R. Body-Process Arts Festival in 2007, The Triangle Project (a side project of the 10th Istanbul Biennial in 2007). Dirk Stromberg had to take a leave from the band to pursue his teaching career outside Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. With the emergence of Gitar Cafe, a cosy music venue in the Asian part of Istanbul, as a haven from experimental music, Islak Köpek started playing there regularly. Islak Köpek have released their first, self-titled album in November 2008 on the Turkish label “AK Müzik” - featuring all six current and former members. A recording in 2007 as a quintet 'one year later, two years ago' was released on the Turkish netlabel re:konstrukt in 2009. The band has recently recorded their third album with Holland-based German flute player Mark Alban Lotz, which will be released on the Dutch label Evil Rabbit Records in early 2011.

The band members have been doing a show on free improvisation and free jazz called “The Other Jazz” on Acik Radyo

Acik Radyo

Açık Radyo 94.9 , is an independent radio station broadcasting from Istanbul, Turkey to the metropolitan Istanbul area and its environs with an output comprising news, music, and talk...

 (FM 94.9) since May 2006.

The band members have also had solo or collective performances in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, UK, USA

Islak Köpek members (in alphabetical order):

Şevket Akıncı: Electric Guitar

Korhan Erel: Computer, Controllers, Cracklebox, Analog/Digital Electronics, Melodica

Robert Reigle: Tenor saxophone

Volkan Terzioğlu: Tenor saxophone