Ilhan Saferali: Piano, Trumpet, Montreal, Coming of Age

On the Rhythm Changes Podcast, Ilhan Saferali, as a teenager, talks about coming-of-age in the Vancouver jazz community.

We talked about:

• the Memorial Jazz Space
• The social factors that supported Ilhan’s development as a jazz musician
• His friends, like bassist Raphael Agustin and drummer Julian Ferrer
• Forming a jazz group that can fit onto a bill with Club Sofa
• How the most active young jazz musicians collaborate across schools now
• Taking piano lessons with Brad Turner
• Why he plays piano over trumpet
• Visualizing music with the piano keyboard, which Ilhan developed under the teaching of pianist Jean-Michel Pilc
• I expected Ilhan to hang out in a bunch of games or newer social platforms, but he emphasizes Facebook (thanks to his friend David Hodgson)
• Thoughts on being young and hearing your technique change rapidly
• Recording anxiety
• Finding ways every day to wind down
• Doing album cover art for Brad Turner Quartet with Seamus Blake on Cellar
• Dealing with ego
• Moving to Montreal (fuelling Ilhan’s coffee culture passion)
• What happens in your day-to-day, like your own high school or family, when you start spending so much time on your music
• I try a take on the Patrick O’Shaughnessy question (Ilhan mentions Daniel Verdecchia, Ben Boardman, and Caity Gyorgy)