This year's International Jazz Festival kicked off on Tuesday featuring a stunning line up of international and Turkish musicians. The festival organized by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) and sponsored by Garanti Bank is celebrating its 14th year.

The festival that is committed to bring world class musicians to the heart of the city where music is a lively part of the cultural scene with a rich program as ever. It embraces both jazz and other styles like pop, classic & alternative rock, world music, Latin and more...

The concerts will be take place at various venues of the glittering city including the Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater, Esma Sultan Yal?s?, Istanbul Modern Sculpture Garden, ?an Theater, French Cultural Center - Courtyard, Istanbul Jazz Center, Nardis Jazz Club, Kemer Golf & Country Club, Hagia Eirene Museum and Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The traditional event of the fest, the Jazz Boat, will be the Baris Manco Boat cruising the Bosphorus on Sunday, while the Young Jazz Concerts will give young amateur musicians the opportunity to take their place on the Festival program.

The opening ceremony was held at one of the beautiful venues of Istanbul, the Esma Sultan Yalisi. Life-time achievement awards were presented to two Turkish legendary jazz vocalists Ayten Alpman and Ruchan Camay. Ayhan Sicimoglu and Latin All Stars performed in a concert at the opening where Alpman sang a famous cover version of a renowned Latin classic - "Adoro" or "Ben Böyleyim" in Turkish.

The festival hosted Michael Bolton, Blonde Redhead, Algiers Brass Brand, Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation, Ayhan Sicimoglu & Latin All Stars featuring Alfredo De La Fe and Frankie Morales, Sibel Kose Band & Michiel Borstlap, Bryan Ferry in the first three days of the festival.

This great event will host many other performances by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees with Philarmonia Istanbul, Norah Jones, Joe Sample Trio & Randy Crawford, Okay Temiz oriental wind featuring Bobo Stenson and Lennart Aberg with Karnataka College of Percussion, Onder Focan "The Bosphorus Project" featuring Stephane Spira, Allan Harris & Kerem Gorsev "Back Again" project and many more...

Here are some of the top highlights of this year's fest:

Norah Jones -- Not Too Late

American singer-song writer, musician and occasional actress Norah Jones will without a doubt add spark to the festival on Aug. 1 at Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater.

She began her career with her massively successful 2002 debut album "Come Away With Me," a modern pop album that sold over twenty million copies worldwide and received six Grammies. She received her second album, "Feels Like Home" in 2004 and finally released her third album "Not Too Late" which is comprised of 13 songs which she wrote or co-wrote this January. It is the first album Jones recorded without producer Arif Mardin, who died in the summer of 2006. She is considered to be one of the most successful recording artists of the decade with sales of more than 35 million records worldwide.

Before Jones' concert the opening act will be performed by M. Ward (an important name in alternative folk music) at 8 p.m.

A little bit of nostalgia with Robin Gibb

One of the members of the Bee Gees, a singing trio of brothers, Robin Gibb will meet with Istanbulites on July 10 at Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater where the singer will present a very special project.

Organized in the memory of the world-famous producers Arif Mardin and Ahmet Ertegun, Gibb's program will feature the most loved Bee Gees classics, along with his solo songs from his singular musical career. Bee Gees and his group will be accompanied by the Philarmonia Istanbul Orchestra comprised of 30 musicians.

Bee Gees sold over 180 million albums throughout the world and they are popularly recognized with hits including "Stayin' Alive," "How Deep Is Your Love," "I Started A Joke," "Night Fever," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart."

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra & Wynthon Marsalis

Another highlight of the fest is the concert by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra headed by Wynton Marsalis on July 11 again at the Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater.

They are one of the most prominent followers of the Big Band tradition with different approach to jazz. Marsalis, the art director of Jazz at Lincoln Center surprises and enchants the audience with a different and contemporary style, where his latest album "From the Plantation to the Penitentiary" sets a good example. The orchestra is comprised of 15 jazz musicians and has a repertoire of original pieces by modern composers and works by legendary jazz musicians like Mingus, Coltrane and Ellington.

Symphonic Jazz at Hagia Eirene Museum

One of the most spectacular festival venue, the Hagia Eirene Museum will host a unique concert celebrating the Russian Culture Year in Turkey called "Symphojazz: Evergreens of the 20th Century." Russia's prominent jazz pianist and composer Sergey Zhilin, his band Phonograph Big-Band and Russian Orchestra Musica Viva will perform on July 13. The band will be accompanied by Russian jazz singer Alla Sidorova.

Anatolian tunes with Okay Temiz

How about some Anatolian tunes...?

One of the greatest percussionists of Turkey, Okay Temiz another guest of the festival will take you onto a journey of Anatolian tunes mingled with Indian melodies and Northern jazz at the garden of Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

Temiz who accomplished a striking musical synthesis, uniting western instruments and traditional Turkish instruments with his jazz group, Oriental Wind was founded in 1974. The band has drawn great interest with its luminous jazz format. He will be accompanied by one of the founding members of Oriental Wind, also known as one of the greatest pianists in Europe, Swedish Bobo Stenson and saxophonist Lennart Aberg.

The tickets for this year's festival may be bought from: Biletix retail outlets, Biletix call center (tel. 0216 556 9800), biletix.com, garanti.com.tr., Alo Garanti (tel. 444 0 333). The ticket prices of this year's event range from 10 YTL to 200 YTL.

Check out the online schedules at IKSV's official website at iksv.org/caz/english. The festival will end on July 18.