Defne Incirlioglu’s Roots Journey from Ankara to NOLA

Busking in NYC The “Good Old New York” that Jelly Roll Morton wrote about has served as an evident launch-pad of hot jazz and its lineage, from its primitive years with Scott Joplin living there in 1907, the ODJB’s first recordings there in 1917, and Louis Armstrong’s first arrival in 1924, to modern-day stalwarts such as Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, Dennis Lichtman and company’s Mona’s jam, and the EarRegular’s at the Ear Inn—each being long-standing and beloved trad performances locally. The City of Dreams allows for discovery, and rediscovery, and for Florida-born, Turkish raised Defne “Dizzy” Incirlioglu, it was the very place to identify and chase a love for early American music when she moved to the United States for college. While studying literature at NYU, a chance moment befriending NYC buskers would gradually inspire a lifetime of music. “I was in Washington Square Park in October of 2005, on my way to go term to a midterm studying program group, and walked past Feral Foster playing guitar and harmonica and was blown away. I met him and Hubby Jenkins on the same day, and I was just really excited about the music they were playing. I thought they were cool—I had moved from Ankara, Turkey, to New York, and I felt like I had more in common with them as a city kid, rebellious, and related more to New Yorker teenagers than I could with my college