By Roland Eyerich …..
After Blues and Rock’n’Roll with The Great Flood in the “Small Music Hall” at The Soulist in Alsancak there was another great event on Friday, 14th April with the JR. Dinosaurs Rock Band.
JR.Dinosaurs Rock Band is a band dedicated to rock and the music of Rainbow, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Pink Floyd, Guns’n’Roses and Iron Maiden etc.
In October of 2016, the idea came to create this rock band of musicians, who are on the road in various music projects. For the musicians – Serdar Tuksal (voc), Mete Pere (bass), Ilhan Erbil (guitar), Koray Bali (drums) and “Japon” Huseyin Kirmizi (Keyboard) they began their dream. 15 years ago at the Tunnel Rock Bar in Girne they had already played together, but it was not until October 2016 that this band could be formed. For the band it is a commitment to keep the “Rock” theme going.
About the band name – “JR. Dinosaurs Rock Band” Serdar Tuksal said “The name came from the idea of non-existing creatures such as dinosaurs, because we believe day by day new generations have lost interest in rock music such as Deep Purple, Iron Maiden etc.. and fewer people are still listening to these bands as milestones of Rock music. I believe our children will be those who least remember and listen to these great rock groups”.
On December 16, 2016, at De Molay in Famagusta, I saw this band for the first time and I was electrified.
For this special event at The Soulist, the band appeared under the name “JR. Dinosaurs Band“. Koray Bali and Mete Pere were unable to perform but,. for Koray and Mete, friendly musicians Cahit Kurtrafali (bass) and Uğur Güçlü (Drums) (drums), stepped in. Cahit Kurtrafali is active in jazz with the Cahit Kurtrafali Trio, playing with the Soulist House Band. Uğur Güçlü also with jazz plays with “Moto Fest 4 and Corner”.
Review:
At around 10 pm the “Dinosaurs” started the concert. All those people present were expecting a loud Hard Rock concert and were surprised by a band that had changed its program for this evening, which was not so loud. The Dinosaurs started with songs which they designed, ranging from Blues to Jazz, to the middle of the session and then the concert was designed to include Rock songs. The two “guest musicians” Cahit Kurtrafali (bass) and Uğur Güçlü (drums) contributed to the success.
Right at the beginning the band surprised the audience with the opener “Light my Fire (The Doors) with Serdar Tüksal playing saxophone and singing. In three other pieces, Roxanne (Toto), Suzanna (The Art Company), English Man in New York (Sting), the saxophone dominated with Serdar Tüksal and a coordinated arrangement.
The predominantly young audience was very enthusiastic about the Dinosaurs’ classics, including Here I Go Again (Whitesnake), Sweet Child O Mine (Guns n Roses), Hold the Line (Toto) and Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple) which were included in the package.
For an encore they played Child in Time (Deep Purple), Break on Through (The Doors) and at the request of the audience – Purple Rain. All in all, a successful evening with the outstanding Japon (Keyboard), Rock guitar Ilhan Erbil and Front-man Serdar Tüksal on Sax and Vocals.
The musicians of the band are also very versatile.
Koray Bali is still playing with the Blues and Rock’n’Roll Band “Blue Tears”.
Huseyin Kirmizi, has studied classical piano, composed and is on the road in classical music and rock and prog rock. He released his CD “Cyprus Syndrome” in 2015. He has dedicated his second album to classical music (with string quartet) which will be released soon. On 28 June, he gave a classical concert “Circus of Freaks” in Bellapais Abbey. A concert for orchestra and piano.
Forthcoming events at The Soulist
Wednesday 19th April
“Blues Night with Alper Cengiz & Friends”
Friday 21st April
The Rusty Slaps (Rockabilly) from Turkey. Entrance 20 TL
I have a weekly international music programme which is in the German language for Blues and Rock music listeners on Bayrak International Radio which is aired on a Sunday at 9pm. Click here to go to this channel or tune in to FM 87.8 and FM105 for live streaming.
The show is in German but my intention is to bring, through music, other foreign people to my show. I already have English, Turkish, Dutch and of course German listeners.
