AKTAY PAPA DUO (Swing/Jazz)

Marco Papa and Cansu Aktay first met in the summer of 2024 in Berlin, marking
the beginning of a collaborative journey aimed at uniting their diverse musical
backgrounds.

Marco Papa is a guitarist and composer active in various avant-garde jazz,
jazzcore, and improvisation projects. Cansu Aktay is a singer whose roots lie in
soul and R&B music.

Together, they have found a synthesis of their artistic identities based on
improvisation, expressive freedom, the centrality of the voice, and close attention
to textual communication in music from the so-called “Broadway period.” The
songs in this repertoire sit at the crossroads of popular music, jazz, and
storytelling. These pieces are conceived not only to be sung, but to tell stories,
stories full of irony, emotion, intelligence, and authentic human experience, while
remaining open to multiple interpretive possibilities thanks to their strong
connection to improvisation.

The choice of a small ensemble allows Marco complete creative freedom to
reinterpret the repertoire, making each concert unique. At the same time, the
stability of the lyrics and melodic lines enables Cansu to fully express the timbral
qualities of her voice and to create a deep, direct connection with the audience.
The project is particularly active in Berlin, where the duo performs regularly.
They have also presented “portrait” concerts dedicated to individual composers
of the Broadway period, including Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard
Rodgers, and Duke Ellington.

With this project, Marco Papa and Cansu Aktay choose to look back in time not
out of nostalgia, but to rediscover the power of the song itself. In an era when
songs had meaning, character, and emotional depth, music could speak directly to
people’s lives. Through this program, the audience is invited on a journey through
joy, melancholy, love, and contradiction, through timeless, sincere, and
profoundly human stories.

Cansu Aktay – voc, Marco Papa – g