After winning the prestigious Montreux Jazz Vocal competition in 2010, with the legendary Mr. Quincy Jones heading the jury, it took Sanem Kalfa almost 5 years to release her debut album, Nehir.
‘Life gave me one of the most precious gifts, a family with whom I can make beautiful music’, recalls Sanem, taking her musical friends from all around Europe (i.e. Italy, Rumania, Slovenia) to alik Farm Studios, Switzerland,to record this album.
In the end, the recordings were taken to The Netherlands to be mixed by Chris Weeda (engineer/producer Toots Thielemans), mastered by Peter Brussee (Q Point) and released by ZenneZ Records. Why? ‘Just listen to that voice’, says creative director John Weijers of the Dutch label. ‘Quincy Jones picked her as a winner, who am I not to agree?’ he adds, with a big smile.
For Sanem, it is a dream come true. ‘This journey started 7 years ago and at some point I found myself singing in front of Mr. Quincy Jones. After winning, he told me ‘You made it!’ and handed me a 5 cents coin, which is still in my pocket’.