ISTANBUL, Turkey —  "Turn up this machine's volume. It should sound amazing," Okay Temiz yells to the technicians as he prepares for the concert that will mark his 80th birthday here at Istanbul's Cemal Resit Rey Concert Ball. Temiz could almost be mistaken for a mechanic when he's onstage, as he tests the sound quality. Yet this highly tactile man has dedicated nearly half a century of his life to becoming one of Turkey's most renowned jazzmen.

Asked how he feels about his 80th birthday: "Nothing. I feel nothing, I am youthful. I have a childlike spirit."

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AUTHOR: Murat Sofuoglu

PHOTOGRAPHS: Jennifer Ciochon