Önder Focan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Önder Focan (born August 24, 1955 in Istanbul ) is a Turkish jazz musician ( guitar , composition , arrangement ).

Live and act

Önder Focan at Nardis Jazz Club (2011)

Focan started playing the mandolin at the age of eight . At the age of 15 he switched to guitar and has focused on jazz since 1975. The autodidact has released 14 albums under his own name since 1994. After attending seminars of the International Association of Jazz Educators , he led courses for jazz ensembles at the Istanbul Academy from 1996. Then he taught at the Müjdat Gezen Cultural Center and at the Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi .

In 1997 he appeared with Jan Akkerman , Wolfgang Muthspiel , Terje Rypdal , Noël Akchoté , Harald Haerter and other guitarists at MIDEM's Guitar Night in Istanbul. In 1998 he became the first Turkish musician to record an album for Blue Note Records , Beneath the Stars with Bill Stewart and organist Sam Yahel . In 2001 he was in the recording studio with David Friesen to record the album Reminescence . In 2003 he recorded the album Spontaneous International Friends for Konnex Records with Ernst Bier and Stefan Weeke . Drummer Bier had already accompanied a Turkey tour with the Önder Focan Quartet in 1997. He has also performed with Ron McClure , Aaron Scott , Lewis Nash , Christian McBride , Dwayne Burno , Al Foster , Brian Lynch , Roy Hargrove , Ted Curson , Judy Farrow and Anne Czichowsky . Focan has performed at festivals in North America, Europe, West Africa, Brazil and the Middle East.

With his wife Zuhal Focan, he founded the Nardis Jazz Club in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul in 2002 . In addition to Turkish musicians, numerous international jazz stars such as Benny Golson , Kurt Elling , Dianne Reeves , Al Foster , Dee Dee Bridgewater , Roy Haynes and Ron Carter have performed there. The name "Nardis" refers to a composition by Miles Davis. The conception of the club is open to all types of jazz. There are other live jazz stages in Istanbul such as the Babylon in Beyoğlu and the JC jazz club in the Beşiktaş district . The musician's wife, Zuhal Focan, is also editor-in-chief of the glossy magazine Jazz, which appears quarterly in Turkish and English .

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Ernst Bier biography: 1997
  2. ↑ Brief description of the club at LonelyPlanet
  3. ↑ Website of the Nardis Jazz Club ( Memento from February 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Turkish / English)
  4. ↑ Turkey: The ears to the west , report by Maxi Sickert in Die Zeit from July 28, 2006, accessed January 30, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Focan, Önder
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Turkish jazz musician (guitar, composition, arrangement)
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Istanbul